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For people who have had the pleasure of visiting Scotland and Ireland,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0highly likely\u00a0they\u2019ll\u00a0want to return. However, for those who have never experienced the wonder of these places in person, how can they be persuaded to book holidays to them over other European destinations?\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s\u00a0clearly a gap in the market for pre-travel experiences that promote these countries to people\u00a0who\u2019ve\u00a0never visited. By showing people what they can experience in advance, it could persuade them to go and check it out firsthand and may boost tourism massively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ireland and Scotland Already Represented in Entertainment<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n The idea of pre-travel experiences is to give people digital ways to discover settings in Ireland and Scotland that they may be interested in exploring further. There are already\u00a0various ways\u00a0to get a taste of these countries online, so it could be easy to transition into offering other ways to experience them.\u00a0<\/p>\n For instance, there are certain titles in entertainment that aim to transport players to Scottish and Irish settings. Games like\u00a012 Pots of Gold Drums Frenzy slot\u00a0and Highland Reels give players a sense that\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0travelled to Ireland and Scotland, where\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0immersed in themes from the countries. There are\u00a0numerous\u00a0films and television shows like Braveheart and\u00a0Ballykissangel\u00a0that have shown viewers what they could experience if they travelled to these places as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n With VR starting to gain greater attention and expected to become\u00a0a mainstream household item in the 2030s,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0the potential to expand on these entertainment offerings. Developers could\u00a0come up with\u00a0pre-travel content that\u00a0showcases\u00a0some of the most famous and idyllic settings in Scotland and Ireland. By showing them off in VR first, people may then want to book tickets to see the real thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n What Would Pre-travel VR Experiences Look Like?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n For pre-travel VR experiences to be effective,\u00a0they\u2019d\u00a0need to go way beyond\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0already on offer in entertainment. People can already get a taste of Scotland and Ireland online, but they may need to get full immersion if they are going to consider travelling to the countries. This means offering much more than just 360-degree videos that let people see things. Instead, VR users need to have the chance to traverse famous settings themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n From a business perspective, a company that can offer these pre-travel experiences could position themselves as a link between tourist hotspots and potential visitors. Hotels could partner with pre-travel VR firms to highlight their offerings, along with allowing customers to try out some of the activities available in VR. Local\u00a0councils could promote their national parks too, with VR users having a chance to explore them digitally before visiting.\u00a0<\/p>\n The days of looking at a brochure and deciding where to go on holiday are long gone. Now, tourist locations need to\u00a0leverage\u00a0modern technology to encourage people to visit. Ireland and Scotland are already heavily represented in digital forms, so it would make sense to expand on these and create pre-travel experiences that\u00a0showcase\u00a0the countries\u2019 best bits further.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t <\/div>\n