Yeşil Pazarlama Bağlamında COVID-19'un Turizm Endüstrisinde Sürdürülebilirlik Üzerindeki Rolü ve Sanal Gerçeklik Turizmine Yönelik Kavramsal Bir Model Önerisi

Öz

Çevre sorunları, günümüzde dünyanın uğraşmak zorunda olduğu en önemli sorunlardan biri haline gelmiştir. Çevresel sorunların oluşturduğu tehditlere ilişkin artan farkındalık nedeniyle, tüketici odağında çevresel kaygılara doğru bir kayma olmuştur. Bununla birlikte, "Eko-turizm" olarak da adlandırılan sanal gerçeklik turizmi, son araştırmalara göre artan bir ilgiyle karşılanmaktadır. Sanal gerçeklik turizmi, doğal bir alana gerçek bir ziyaretle aynı deneyimi sağlamasa da, yalnızca geçtiğimiz dönemde yaşanan küresel COVID-19 tabanlı seyahat kısıtlamaları ve ekonomik krizler nedeniyle değil, aynı zamanda oyunun kurallarını değiştiren yeni teknolojik gelişmeler ve çevresel konularda artan farkındalık nedeniyle de popülerlik kazanmaktadır. Pandeminin sona ermesi ile birlikte, bu popülaritenin kısa ömürlü olacağı yönünde beklentiler olsa da, pandemi döneminde sanal gerçeklik turizmine yönelik oluşan olumlu kullanıcı deneyiminin devamı, ekolojik olarak bilinçli tüketicilerin geleneksel seyahatin zevkinden vazgeçme isteğinin ve güncel teknolojilere yönelik artan kullanıcı adaptasyonunun seviyesi ile ilişkili olacaktır. Bu bildiride öncelikle sürdürülebilirlik ve yeşil pazarlama kavramları turizm endüstrisi temelinde ele alınmıştır. Çalışma aynı zamanda sanal gerçeklik teknolojilerinin turizm sektöründeki uygulamalarını sürdürülebilirlik perspektifi içinde daha derinden kavramak için mevcut literatüre odaklanmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, sanal deneyimlerin geleneksel turizmin yerini alma potansiyeli ve COVID-19 gibi kriz durumlarının bu potansiyel üzerindeki etkisi incelenmiştir. Son olarak, sürdürülebilirlik çerçevesinde gelişmekte olan bir endüstri olarak sanal gerçeklik turizmin zorlukları, hem gerçek dünya hem de sanal gerçeklik turizminin sürdürülebilir gelişimi için çıkarımlar ile birlikte tartışılmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Yeşil Pazarlama
• Yeşil Turizm
• Sürdürülebilirlik
• Sanal Gerçeklik
• COVID-19

The Role of COVID-19 on Sustainability in Tourism Industry Through Green Marketing Perspective and A Conceptual Model Proposal on Virtual Reality Tourism

Öz

Environmental issues have become one of the most important problems the world has to deal with today. Due to the growing awareness of the threats posed by environmental issues, there has been a shift in consumer focus toward environmental concerns. Virtual reality tourism, which has also been called "eco-tourism," has been showing signs of increased activity, according to recent researches. Although virtual tourism may not provide the same experience as a real visit to a natural site, it is nonetheless gaining popularity, not just because of the prior global COVID-19 based travel restrictions and economic crises, but also because of new, game-changing technological developments and increased awareness of the environmental issues by the travelers. Despite the expectations that this popularity will be short-lived with the end of the pandemic, the continued positive user experience for virtual reality tourism during the pandemic period will be correlated with the level of the desire of ecologically conscious consumers to forego the pleasure of traditional travel and increased user adjustment to digital solutions. In this paper, initially the concept of sustainability and green marketing is discussed on the basis of tourism industry. The study also focuses on the available literature in order to acquire a deeper comprehension of the applications of immersive technologies in the tourism sector within the perspective of sustainability. Besides the ability of virtual experiences to be seen as a substitute for traditional tourism, the impact of crisis situations -such as COVID-19- on that potential is examined. Finally, challenges of virtual tourism as an emerging industry within the framework of sustainability and implications for the sustainable development of both real-world and virtual tourism are discussed.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Green Marketing
• Green Tourism
• Sustainability
• Virtual Reality
• COVID-19
• Yeşil Pazarlama
• Yeşil Turizm
• Sürdürülebilirlik
• Sanal Gerçeklik
• COVID-19

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