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Tourism Metaverse News

The metaverse will be a key determinant for travelers to decide where to go in 2023, a survey by Booking.com said.



Booking surveyed 24,179 people from 32 countries, finding travelers&#8217; strong interest in exploring destinations around the world in the virtual space before booking their vacations. About the half of participants (43%) said that they would use the metaverse to determine their coming destination, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/metaverse-experience-to-sway-real-world-travel-choices-in-2023-survey" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to Coin Telegraph</a>.



About 4,574 of the participants said they will travel to new places only after experiencing them virtually. In addition, more than 35% of the respondents showed their keenness to spend more than one day in the metaverse to get familiarized with the surroundings offered across popular destinations.



Around 45% of the respondents who want to try travel experiences in the metaverse were Generation Z, while 43% of them were Millennials.



Booking said that the technologies of virtual reality and blockchain will let their users experience anything from a sunny beach to the desert without being physically on-site. However, 60% of the respondents said the experiences offered by such technologies cannot be compared with being there in person actually. Some of the most popular destinations for 2023 include São Paulo in Brazil, Pondicherry in India, Hobart in Australia and Bolzano in Italy.



A metaverse is a network of three-dimensional virtual environments focusing on social interaction. It may be characterized as a digitally simulated world. It utilizes blockchain, augmented reality, and virtual reality (VR), combined with social media principles, to develop venues for extensive user communication that imitate the real world.

Metaverse

Metaverse to Inspire Travelers’ Decisions on Coming Destinations in 2023

Tuvalu, a microstate in the southern Pacific Ocean, announced that it intends to build itself in the metaverse in an attempt to rescue itself from rising sea levels.&nbsp;



The announcement was made by Tuvalu&#8217;s Minister of Justice, Communication, and Foreign affairs Simon Kofe, during the COP27, held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Reuters reported. 



Kofe clarified that building the Pacific nation in the metaverse is the only way to preserve the country&#8217;s culture and history to make the children see where their grandparents had lived.&nbsp;



&#8220;Our land, our ocean, our culture are the most precious assets of our people and to keep them safe from harm, no matter what happens in the physical world, we will move them to the cloud,&#8221; Kofe said while standing on a digital replica on the island.&nbsp;



He warned that more countries would join his country if there is no global conscience and a global commitment to combating climate change.&nbsp;



The idea of building Tuvalu in the metaverse will make it function as a sovereign state but its residents have to live somewhere else if it was submerged by the sea.&nbsp;



Tuvalu&nbsp;is an island country in the west-central Pacific Ocean. It sits about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, where about 12,000 people only are living on it.&nbsp;



Tuvalu will be the second country to join the virtual world, following Liberland, which announced to build a replica of itself in the metaverse earlier this month.&nbsp;



However, countries and cities seek to expand their footprint in the metaverse over the last year like Barbados, which became the first sovereign country to have established an embassy in the metaverse, in addition to Seoul, which aims to complete its <a href="https://upyo.com/en/news/tags/tourism-metaverse">metaverse environment</a> for all administrative services, including economy, education, culture, and tourism by 2026 after announcing its plan in 2021.

Tuvalu

Tuvalu Announces Intention to Build Itself in Metaverse

Hegra’s Tomb of Lihyan in Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia is now recreated in the metaverse, the Royal Commission for Al-Ula (RCU) announced.



RCU said tourists can visit and enter the Hegra, a matter which tourists in the real world cannot do, in addition to getting detailed information about the Saudi destination, dating back to the first century BCE, by interacting with virtual touchpoints, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/travel/2022/11/07/hegras-tomb-of-lihyan-in-alula-is-recreated-in-the-metaverse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to the National Newspaper</a>. 



Rendered on Decentraland, an Ethereum-based 3 Dimensional virtual platform, this is the first project in Al-Ula to enter the metaverse and the first UNESCO World Heritage site also.



In this regard, RCU Chief Executive Amr AlMadani said the move represents an open invitation for digital explorers, travelers, and academics to tour Al-Ula like never before, an amazing turning point in the Al-Ula unique heritage history.



Madani described Al-Ula&#8217;s accession to the metaverse as an important step, which will contribute to its regeneration, saying: &#8220;moving from the physical to the digital realm and accessible to everyone, everywhere.&#8221;



Tomb of Lihyan, son of Kuza, also known as Qasr Al Farid or “The Lonely Castle”, is a well-known and iconic tomb in Mada’in Salih, Hegra in Saudi Arabia.



The structure is said to have been erected in the 1st century CE and is unmatched when it comes to ancient design and architecture. Moreover, It was also the first Saudi site to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.



Frog, a leading global creative consultancy firm, will help RCU in launching Hegra in the metaverse.



It is worth mentioning that iconic Arab landmarks, especially in the Gulf region, announced their debut in the metaverse over the past months, topped by Abu Dhabi&#8217;s Yas Island and Dubai&#8217;s Burj Khalifa. They are intending to introduce a new type of tourism based on the digital space and present an immersive experience for all visitors from any place in the world.

Tomb of Lihyan in Al-Ula

Saudi Al-Ula’s Tomb of Lihyan to Be Recreated in Metaverse

A number of key bodies in Abu Dhabi collaborated to take the iconic Yas Island to the metaverse by 2023 as a part of the authorities&#8217; steps to place Abu Dhabi in the virtual world.



The Yas Island Metaverse is an outcome of the collaboration among the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi Motorsport, Aldar, Miral, twofour54, and Flash Entertainment.



This personalized adventure will let users play, socialize, create, transact, and gather in the virtual world in addition to discovering more activities in the users&#8217; digital-first journey like attending special events, golf games, and motorsport racing events in addition to buying digital homes.



Yas Island Metaverse will include customizable avatars and surprise rewards for every visitor. It will be fully operated and available for its visitors after being finalized in the first quarter of 2023.



In this regard, Undersecretary at DCT Abu Dhabi Saood Abdulaziz Al Hosani called on people around the globe to experience this personalized adventure to enjoy its excitement in the virtual world.



&#8220;The innovative, interactive platform is perfect for highlighting the exceptional lifestyle, cultural and entertainment experiences that Abu Dhabi presents to all visitors and will give both virtual residents and travelers the power to curate their own unique Abu Dhabi itinerary,&#8221; Hosani said.



Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer at Aldar Talal Al Dhiyebi expressed Aldar&#8217;s pride in taking part in this immersive project, noting the metaverse project is the next evolution of Yas Island to place the iconic Island and Abu Dhabi overall on the global metaverse map.



CEO of Miral Mohammed Abdalla Al Zaabi said his company&#8217;s collaboration in this captivating project aims to position Yas Island and Abu Dhabi on the global tourism map by letting the world explore the island&#8217;s wonders and attractions from their home.



CEO of ADMM Saif Al Noaimi noted expected that the Yas Island Metvaverse would attract new audiences to the island to enjoy its extraordinary experiences in the virtual world, looking forward to more engagement with the island&#8217;s fans worldwide.



While in its development phase, the virtual island is being created by eminent metaverse platforms, including The Sandbox and Roblox. It is powered by Super League Gaming, a global leader in video game experiences and entertainment in the metaverse.

Yas Island

Yas Island To Be Introduced in Metaverse in 2023

The Sharjah Commerce &amp; Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) collaborated with Multiverse Labs, an operator of an AI-powered multi-metaverse platform, to establish a new metaverse city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), named &#8220;Sharjahverse.&#8221;



Sharjahverse will be a remarkable milestone that will foster the UAE&#8217;s tourism industry as it was described by Multiverse Labs as “photorealistic, physics-accurate.”



On an area of 2,590 sq km, Sharjahverse will not only include all of Sharjah but also open doors for jobs in the metaverse for the locals at Sharjah&#8217;s iconic gems. It will be a center for innovation, imagination, and trade, a way that boosts the emirate&#8217;s position as a destination of excellence.



In this regard, Chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) Khalid Jasim Al Midfa said: &#8220;Transforming the mass market tourism industry towards next-generation, sustainable practices requires a new way of thinking. Multiverse&#8217;s groundbreaking and AI-driven approach will help push the limits of imagination and promote Sharjah as a destination of excellence.&#8221;



Midfa pointed out that Sharjahverse would provide unprecedented access to almost any location in addition to personalized guest experiences and enhanced entertainment.



Meanwhile, CEO of Multiverse Labs Cliff Szu noted that Sharjahverse is the first metaverse city backed by the government in the world and the world&#8217;s most realistic metaverse, expressing his excitement for cooperating with SCTDA&#8217;s officials.



It is worth mentioning that through Sharjahverse, the whole emirate will be accessible and viewable to the public.



Over the past few years, the UAE has positioned itself as one of the world’s prominent hubs for metaverse and blockchain technologies. It works on enabling digital assets companies to launch their operations in the country.



The UAE Ministry of Economy plans to launch its new headquarters in the metaverse to offer its services in the virtual world like the real-world headquarters.



The Emirati government, in July, launched the Dubai Metaverse Strategy which aims to contribute $4 billion to the emirate’s economy. The strategy targets increasing the number of blockchain and metaverse companies fivefold within five years as well as offering 40,000 virtual jobs to be one of the top 10 global metaverse economies.

Tourism Metaverse News

Latest Tourism Metaverse News