Businesses have been utilizing digital technology to bridge physical gaps between themselves and their customers for years. While the metaverse can be viewed as the next technological leap, it’s debatable as to whether it’s going to take off as quickly as Zuckerberg is predicting.
Meeting ever-changing guest expectations is a never-ending challenge. There is a high demand for an optimized guest experience. Because many (if not most) modern travelers are technologically savvy, the metaverse has a lot of potential.
So how can the metaverse change hospitality? The guest experience begins with accommodation research, and if the metaverse is implemented, it has the potential to revolutionize the booking process by allowing travelers to partake in virtual 3D hotel tours and do a walkthrough before even entering the facility. This could provide guests with an experience that photos can’t.
This could also impact how people use hotels as spaces for events and celebrations. The metaverse would theoretically allow people to attend and experience the industry conference or events virtually. Hotels could sell different virtual venues as part of their sales packages. For industry events, presenters could appear holographically and create an experience that feels life-like.
However, there is also debate as to whether this impact will even hit this decade. While Zuckerberg introduced the world to Metaverse recently, there has been a lot of pushback. While the metaverse may be idealistic for online microtransaction-centric industries, VR traveling never hit the mainstream market. Frankly, VR gaming itself isn’t as big as many people thought. With the lockdowns impacting the world last year, that would have been the best time for virtual technology to take off. Outside of top-of-funnel sales, where is the immediate revenue for hoteliers? Most demographics don’t have this technology as a household stable and other audiences feel like we are about to live out an episode of Black Mirror.
The impact will not be immediate. In fact, it may not be another 15 years before we see the real impact the metaverse will have on the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry is built around human interaction… so if the social sphere becomes catered to VR tech, so will hotels.
Where do you see the metaverse playing into modern hospitality?