Advancing tourism recovery through virtual tourism marketing: an integrated approach of uses and gratifications theory and attachment to VR

Although virtual tourism (VT) has been touted as an effective alternative or transitional solution to tourism, few researches have been conducted on how to maintain and enhance visitors' satisfaction with it and how to translate positive sentiments into on-site travel intentions. This study proposes a conceptual model under the uses and gratifications theory and attachment theory. It aims to investigate the gratification factors that improve tourist satisfaction of VT and to determine the effect of attachment to virtual reality (VR), satisfaction, and loyalty on the intention to visit the destination recommended. To test the model, a sample of 624 respondents was captured and the PLS-SEM was used. The findings suggest that informativeness, entertainment, and social interactivity determine tourists' satisfaction, with entertainment being the most important factor. Attachment to VR has a significantly positive impact on improving satisfaction and transforming the uses and gratifications of VT into on-site visit intention. However, the positive impact of satisfaction with VT on on-site tourism intention reduces as the level of connection to nature increases. This study extends UGT theory and provides references for tourism practitioners and managers to enhance tourists' VT satisfaction and to advance tourism speedy recovery.