Virtual Reality in Tourism: Preview Destinations Before You Go

A virtual travel preview lets you look around a place before you book: walk down a street in panoramic imagery, step inside a museum gallery on screen, or turn 360 degrees inside a hotel room. You do not need a headset for most of it. A phone or laptop browser handles the majority of what is available, and a headset adds depth and a sense of scale.

This guide takes the traveler’s side: which previews exist, how to use them while planning, and where they stop being reliable.

Street-level imagery

The most widely used preview is street-level panoramic imagery. Google Street View, which launched on May 25, 2007 in several U.S. cities, offers interactive panoramas stitched from photos taken mostly by specially equipped cars. For places cars cannot go, a backpack-mounted camera called a Trekker has been used on trails and other terrain.

Street imagery is useful for:

Checking what a neighborhood around a hotel looks like
Seeing whether a route to a station or beach is a flat promenade or a steep street
Judging how busy or quiet a street appears

Check how old the imagery is where the service shows a capture date. Coverage varies from country to country, and some places have restricted or suspended the service over privacy concerns, so a gap does not mean nothing is there.

Museum and gallery tours

Many cultural institutions offer online walk-throughs. Google Arts & Culture, which began in 2011 as the Google Art Project, launched with seventeen partner museums and let visitors move through galleries using Street View-style controls, and zoom into artworks in very high resolution. It has since grown to include many more institutions.

These tours are useful for deciding what to see on a trip. A traveler can explore a collection in advance, pick the rooms that matter and arrive with a plan. They are not a substitute for standing in front of an object, but they reduce the chance of spending a limited visit on the wrong floor.

Hotels and attractions in 360

Hotels, resorts and sights increasingly publish 360-degree photos or video tours, and these are the most direct way to preview a room. A virtual tour is generally built from sequences of stitched still images or video, sometimes with a floor map showing where each shot was taken. The guide to VR for hospitality and tourism explains how properties produce them.

When you watch one, ask yourself:

Is it the room I would get? Many tours show the best suite, not the standard room.
Are the common areas included? Corridors, the pool, the breakfast room and the entrance say more about the property than a bedroom does.
What is outside the window? A view can be the difference between a good stay and a disappointing one.
When was it made? An old tour may show a renovated or changed space.

Using a headset

A headset places you inside a 360 scene with a sense of depth, and head movement changes the view. It is especially good for judging the size of rooms, the height of a ceiling or the scale of a landmark. If you do not own one, a phone placed in a simple viewer gives a basic version, though the experience is less comfortable. Anyone who feels queasy should stop and rest; motion discomfort affects some users.

For a broader overview of where the technology is heading, see VR in travel and tourism and the outlook for tourism.

A simple way to use previews when planning

Dream stage. Watch a short immersive film or browse panoramas of two or three places. Notice which one holds your attention.
Research stage. Use street imagery to check the area and 360 tours to compare rooms.
Planning stage. Explore a museum or attraction online and note the rooms you want to prioritize.
After booking. Rehearse arrival routes, so the first walk from the station is familiar.

What a preview cannot tell you

Even a good preview leaves out a lot.

Sound and smell. Noise from nightlife, traffic or construction is often the main complaint about a hotel, and it rarely appears in imagery.
Crowds. Panoramas are often captured at quiet times, so a popular site may be far busier than it looks.
Weather and season. The imagery shows one day.
Changes. Shops close, buildings are renovated and construction begins.
Selection. Providers choose what to show. A tour made by a hotel is marketing and should be read as such.

Combine previews with independent information such as recent traveler reviews and official tourism sites.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a VR headset to preview a destination?

No. Street imagery, museum tours and hotel 360 views run in an ordinary browser. A headset adds depth, but it is optional.

Are virtual tours of hotels reliable?

They show real spaces, but the provider decides what to include and when it was captured. Use them for layout and size, and check recent reviews for noise, cleanliness and service.

Can virtual previews replace travel?

Not entirely. They help people who cannot travel and can cut planning mistakes, but they do not capture the atmosphere, food, sound and people that make up most of a trip.

Is street-level imagery always up to date?

No. Imagery is captured at different times in different places, and where a capture date is shown, it tells you how old the image is.

Making use of it

Treat a virtual preview as a first screening tool. It narrows the choices, answers practical questions and prepares you for arrival. Then confirm the details through current, independent sources before spending money.