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

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 16 Sayı: 1, 221 - 244, 31.01.2023

Özge Gökbulut Özdemir Muhsin Tamer Özdemir

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

Kaynakça

• Acungil, Z. K., and Acungil, Y. (2022). Covid-19 pandemisinde hijyen davranışları ve çevre ilişkisi: ampirik bir çalışma. Ordu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Sosyal Bilimler Araştırmaları Dergisi, 12(1): 375-394.
• Akhtar, N., Khan, N., Mahroof Khan, M., Ashraf, S., Hashmi, M. S., Khan, M. M., & Hishan, S. S. (2021). Post-covid 19 tourism: Will digital tourism replace mass tourism?. Sustainability, 13: 1–18.
• American Marketing Association (2022). https://www.ama.org/the-definition-of-marketing-what-is-marketing/. asp (18.11.2022).
• An, S., Choi. Y., & Lee, C.K. (2021). Virtual travel experience and destination marketing: effects of sense and information quality on flow and visit intention. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, 19, Art. 100492.
• Bhattacharya, A., & Stern, N. (2020). From rescue to recovery, to transformation and growth: building a better world after COVID-19. Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
• Bin, E., Andruetto, C., Susilo, Y., & Pernestål, A. (2021). The trade-off behaviours between virtual and physical activities during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic period. European Transport Research Review, 13(1): 1-19.
• Buhalis, D., Karatay, N. (2022). Mixed reality (mr) for generation z in cultural heritage tourism towards metaverse. Proceedings of the ENTER 2022 eTourism Conference.
• Bukhari, S. S. (2011). Green Marketing and its impact on consumer behavior. European Journal of Business and Management, 3(4): 375-383.
• Chan, S.W. (2013). Gap analysis of green hotel marketing. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25(7): 1017-1048.
• Chen, A. (2020). Is virtual travel here to stay, even after the pandemic subsides? https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/can-virtual-reality-replace-real-tourism-during-pandemic-andbeyond. asp (18.11.2022).
• Cho, Y. H., Wang, Y., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2002). Searching for experiences: The web-based virtual tour in tourism marketing. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 12(4), 1-17.
• Clifford, C. (2020). The water in Venice, Italy’s canals is running clear amid the COVID-19 lockdown – take a look, CNBC.com, www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/photos-water-in-venice-italys-canalsclear-amid-covid-19-lockdown.html/. asp (18.11.2022).
• Crossley, É. (2020). Ecological grief generates desire for environmental healing in tourism after COVID-19. Tourism Geographies, 22(3): 536-546.
• Davis, F.D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology, MIS Quarterly, 13(3): 318-40.
• Debusmann, B. Jr. (2020). Coronavirus: Is virtual reality tourism about to take off? https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54658147. asp (18.11.2022).
• Dewailly, J.M. (1999). Sustainable tourist space: From reality to virtual reality?, Tourism Geographies, 1(1): 41-55.
• Dueholm, J., & Smed, K. M. (2014). Heritage authenticities – A case study of authenticity perceptions at a Danish heritage site. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 9(4): 285–298.
• Elkhwesky, Z., El Manzani, Y., & Elbayoumi Salem, I. (2022). Driving hospitality and tourism to foster sustainable innovation: A systematic review of COVID-19-related studies and practical implications in the digital era. Tourism and Hospitality Research.
• Fagan, M., Kilmon, C., & Pandey, V. (2012). Exploring the adoption of a virtual reality simulation: The role of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and personal innovativeness. Campus-Wide Information Systems, 29(2): 117-127.
• Fennell, D. A. (2021). Technology and the sustainable tourist in the new age of disruption. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(5): 767–773.
• Filter, E., Eckes, A., Fiebelkorn, F., & Büssing, A. G. (2020). Virtual reality nature experiences involving wolves on Youtube: Presence, emotions, and attitudes in immersive and nonimmersive settings. Sustainability, 12: 1–22.
• Frey, B. S., & Briviba, A. (2021). A policy proposal to deal with excessive cultural tourism. European Planning Studies, 29(4): 601–618.
• García-Salirrosas, E. E., & Rondon-Eusebio, R. F. (2022). Green marketing practices related to key variables of consumer purchasing behavior. Sustainability, 14(14): 8499.
• Glenn, I. (2021). Telesafaris, WildEarth Television, and the Future of Tourism. International Journal of Communication, 15: 2569–2585.
• Go, H. and Kang, M. (2022). Metaverse tourism for sustainable tourism development: tourism agenda 2030. Tourism Review.
• Godovykh, M., Baker, C., & Fyall, A. (2022). VR in Tourism: A New Call for Virtual Tourism Experience amid and after the COVID-19 Pandemic. Tourism and Hospitality, 3(1): 265-275.
• Gossling, S., Scott, D., & Hall, C. M. (2021). Pandemics, tourism and global change: A rapid assessment of COVID-19. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(1): 1–20.
• Groening, C., Sarkis, J., Zhu, Q. (2018). Green marketing consumer-level theory review: A compendium of applied theories and further research directions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172: 1848-1866.
• Guttentag, D.A. (2010). Virtual reality: Applications and implications for tourism. Tourism Management, 31(5): 637-651.
• Gürsoy, D., Malodia, S., Dhir, A. (2022). The metaverse in the hospitality and tourism industry: An overview of current trends and future research directions. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management.
• Hall, C. M. (2022). Sustainable tourism beyond BAU (Brundtlund as Usual): Shifting from paradoxical to relational thinking? Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism, 1, Art. 927946.
• Han, H., Hwang, J., Kim, J., & Jung, H. (2015). Guests’ pro-environmental decision-making process: Broadening the norm activation framework in a lodging context. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 47: 96–107.
• Hart, M. and Porter, G. (2004). The impact of cognitive and other factors on the perceived usefulness of OLAP, Journal of Computer Information Systems, 45(1): 47-56.
• Helsel, S.K., Roth, J.P. (1991). Virtual Reality: theory, practice and promise, London: Meckler, Westport.
• Hewitt, A. (2021). The first COVID-19 lockdowns improved air quality: where are we a year later?, UCLA Newsroom, https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/air-quality-a-year-after-covid-lockdowns/. asp (18.11.2022).
• Hobson, J.S.P., Williams, P. (1995). Virtual reality and tourism: fact or fantasy?, Tourism Management, 16(6) : 423-427.
• Jones, P., Hillier, D. and Comfort, D. (2014). Sustainability in the global hotel industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26(1): 5-17.
• Jones, P., Comfort, D. (2020) The COVID-19 Crisis, Tourism and Sustainable Development. Athens Journal of Tourism, 7(2): 75-86.
• Kemp, A., Palmer, E., Strelan, P., & Thompson, H. (2022). Exploring the specification of educational compatibility of virtual reality within a technology acceptance model. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 38(2): 15-34.
• Kışla, G.Ş.H., Türkcan, B., Yenilmez, M. (2022). How covid-19 has affected supply and demand within tourism industry? Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Tourism 2023, 8(1): 39-49.
• Kim, M. J., Lee, C. K., & Jung, T. (2020). Exploring consumer behavior in virtual reality tourism using an extended stimulus-organism-response model. Journal of Travel Research, 59(1): 69–89.
• Kim, H., So, K. K. F., Mihalik, B. J., & Lopes, A. P. (2021). Millennials’ virtual reality experiences pre-and post-COVID-19. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 48, 200-209.
• Kinoti, M. W. (2011). Green marketing intervention strategies and sustainable development: A conceptual paper. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(23).
• Lee, H.G., Chung, S., Lee, W.H. (2013). Presence in virtual golf simulators: The effects of presence on perceived enjoyment, perceived value, and behavioral intention. New Media & Society, 15: 930-946
• Li, L. (2017). An empirical study on the effect of eco-tourism visitors’ environmental attitudes on environmental behavior, Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 15(2): 91–101.
• Lu, L., Bock, D., Joseph, M. (2013). Green marketing: what the Millenials buy. Journal of Business Strategy, 34(6): 3-10.
• Lu, J., Xiao, X., Xu, Z., Wang, C., Zhang, M., & Zhou, Y. (2022). The potential of virtual tourism in the recovery of tourism industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current Issues in Tourism, 25(3): 441-457.
• Meler, M., Ham, M. (2012). Marketing For Green Tourism, Green Tourism & Hospitality Management 2012. Conference Proceedings, 130-139.
• Mohanty, P., Hassan, A., & Ekis, E. (2020). Augmented reality for relaunching tourism post-COVID-19: socially distant, virtually connected. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes.
• Monteiro, A., Eusébio, C., Carneiro, M. J., Madaleno, M., Robaina, M., Rodrigues, V., & Borrego, C. (2021). Tourism and air quality during COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for the future. Sustainability, 13(7), 3906.
• O’Connor, P., & Assaker, G. (2021). COVID-19’s effects on future pro-environmental traveler behavior: An empirical examination using norm activation, economic sacrifices, and risk perception theories. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1–19.
• Oncioiu, I., Priescu, I. (2022). The Use of Virtual Reality in Tourism Destinations as a Tool to Develop Tourist Behavior Perspective. Sustainability, 14(7): 4191.
• Orîndaru, A., Popescu, M. F., Alexoaei, A. P., Căescu, Ș. C., Florescu, M. S., & Orzan, A. O. (2021). Tourism in a post-COVID-19 era: Sustainable strategies for industry’s recovery. Sustainability, 13(12): 6781.
• Papadas, K. K., Avlonitis, G. J., Carrigan, M., & Piha, L. (2019). The interplay of strategic and internal green marketing orientation on competitive advantage. Journal of Business Research, 104: 632-643.
• Perkis, A., Timmerer, C., Baraković, S., Husić, J. B., Bech, S., Bosse, S., ... & Zadtootaghaj, S. (2020). QUALINET white paper on definitions of immersive media experience (IMEx). arXiv preprint arXiv:2007.07032.
• Polcar, J., Horejsi, P. (2015). Knowledge Acquisition and Cyber Sickness: A Comparison Of Vr Devices In Virtual Tours. MM Science Journal, 2015, June: 613-616
• Portney, K.E., (2015). Sustainability. Massachusets Institute of Technology. Cambridge, Massachusets: The MIT Press.
• Rousseau, S., & Deschacht, N. (2020). Public awareness of nature and the environment during the COVID-19 crisis. Environmental and Resource Economics, 76(4): 1149-1159.
• Rosenberg, L. (2022). VR vs. AR vs. MR vs. XR: What’s the difference? https://bigthink.com/the-future/vr-ar-mr-xr-metaverse/. asp (18.11.2022).
• Sagnier, C., Loup-Escande, E., Lourdeaux, D., Thouvenin, I., Valléry, G. (2020). User Acceptance of Virtual Reality: An Extended Technology Acceptance Model. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 36(11): 993-1007
• Sarkady, D., Neuburger, L., Egger, R. (2021). Virtual Reality as a Travel Substitution Tool During COVID-19. In: Wörndl, W., Koo, C., Stienmetz, J.L. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2021. Springer, Cham.
• Saseanu, A.S., Simona I.G., Irina, A., Carmen-Alexandra, S. (2020). Aspects of Digitalization and Related Impact on Green Tourism in European Countries, Information 11(11): 507.
• Schiopu, A. F., Hornoiu, R. I., Padurean, M. A., & Nica, A.-M. (2021). Virus tinged? Exploring the facets of virtual reality use in tourism as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telematics and Informatics, 60, 101575.
• Sharma, A. P. (2021). Consumers’ purchase behaviour and green marketing: A synthesis, review and agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(6): 1217-1238.
• Shin, Y. H., Im, J., Jung, S. E., & Severt, K. (2018). The theory of planned behavior and the norm activation model approach to consumer behavior regarding organic menus. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 69: 21–29.
• Spenceley, A., Snyman, S., & Eagles, P. (2017). Guidelines for Tourism Partnerships and Concessions for Protected Areas: Generating Sustainable Revenues for Conservation and Development. Report to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and IUCN. https://www.cbd.int/tourism/doc/tourism-partnerships-protected-areas-web.pdf. asp (18.11.2022).
• Srivastava, P. R., Sengupta, K., Kumar, A., Biswas, B., & Ishizaka, A. (2021). Post-epidemic factors influencing customer’s booking intent for a hotel or leisure spot: an empirical study. Journal of Enterprise Information Management. 35(1): 78-99
• Su, L., Hsu, M. K., & Boostrom Jr, R. E. (2020). From recreation to responsibility: Increasing environmentally responsible behavior in tourism. Journal of Business Research, 109: 557-573.
• Sugandini, D., Susilowati, C., Siswanti, Y., & Syafri, W. (2020). Green supply management and green marketing strategy on green purchase intention: SMEs cases. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management (JIEM), 13(1): 79-92.
• Sussmann, S., Vanhegan, H. (2000). Virtual Reality and the Tourism Product Substitution or Complement? ECIS 2000 Proceedings.
• Talwar, S., Kaur, P., Nunkoo, R., & Dhir, A. (2022). Digitalization and sustainability: virtual reality tourism in a post pandemic world. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1-28.
• Tasci, A. (2017). Consumer demand for sustainability benchmarks in tourism and hospitality. Tourism Review, 72(4): 375-391.
• Tam, K. P. (2019). Anthropomorphism of nature, environmental guilt, and pro-environmental behavior. Sustainability, 11(19): 5430.
• Tauber, V., & Bausch, T. (2022). Will COVID-19 Boost Sustainable Tourism: Wishful Thinking or Reality?. Sustainability, 14(3): 1686.
• United Nations Academic Impact. https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/sustainability. asp (05.01.2023).
• United Nations World Tourism Organization Sustainable Tourism Development. Available online: https://www.unwto.org/ sustainable-development. asp (18.11.2022).
• Verma, S., Warrier, L., Bolia, B., & Mehta, S. (2022). Past, present, and future of virtual tourism-a literature review. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 2(2): 100085.
• Wolf, F., Filho, W.L., Singh, P., Scherle, N., Reiser, D., Telesford, J., Miljkovi´c, I.B., Havea, P.H., Li, C., Surroop, D., et al. (2021). Influences of climate change on tourism development in small pacific island states. Sustainability 2021, 13: 4223.
• WTTC, (2022). To Recovery and Beyond: The Future of Travel and Tourism in the Wake of COVID-19. Oliver Wyman, https://wttc.org/initiatives/to-recovery-beyond. asp (18.11.2022).
• Yung, R., & Khoo-Lattimore, C. (2019). New realities: a systematic literature review on virtual reality and augmented reality in tourism research, Current Issues in Tourism, 22(17): 2056-2081.
• Zhang, S.N., Li, Y.Q., Ruan, W.Q., Liu, C.H. (2022). Would you enjoy virtual travel? The characteristics and causes of virtual tourists’ sentiment under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism Management, 88: 104429.
• Zhao, J., Li, SM (2018). The impact of tourism development on the environment in China. Acta Scientifica Malaysia, 2018, 2(1): 01-04.
• Zolfani, S. H., Sedaghat, M., Maknoon, R., & Zavadskas, E. K. (2015). Sustainable tourism: a comprehensive literature review on frameworks and applications. Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja, 28(1): 1-30.