Purpose

This study aims to examine the use of the metaverse in tourism and hospitality to comprehend better how the technology might shape customer journey management, especially relative to information provision, experiences and customer benefits.

Design/methodology/approach

This explanatory research used a two-stage approach of media analysis and practitioner interviews to analyse the interactions among tourism information provision, customer experiences and customer benefits in the metaverse. It conceptualized and mapped the consumer journey of the emerging metaverse experience, focusing on the ideas and practices of metaverse design pioneers in tourism and hospitality.

Findings

Based on the media analysis and interviews with 27 designers, the metaverse – information – experiences – benefits (MIEB) model was proposed, containing three parts (information characteristics, customer experiences and customer benefits) and 31 supporting items grouped into nine components.

Originality/value

One of the unique contributions of this research is the MIEB model for applying the metaverse in customer journey management (pre-, during- and post-trip). The findings contribute to the current literature with this model based on the practical perspectives of metaverse designers and provide insights on how to incorporate the MIEB model in applying the metaverse in tourism and hospitality management. The findings also address existing literature gaps of insufficient research on metaverse management and design through all stages of the customer travel journey and by paying attention to stakeholders’ viewpoints, including the media and designers of metaverse applications. Engaging in semi-structured interviews with pioneers of the metaverse to gain insights into the design of tourism experiences was also different from other metaverse tourism research, although this is not claimed as a significant point of innovation.

中文翻译：

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Metaverse 旅游客户旅程：构建可行的虚拟世界

目的

本研究旨在探讨虚拟宇宙在旅游和酒店业中的使用，以更好地理解该技术如何塑造客户旅程管理，特别是与信息提供、体验和客户利益相关的管理。

设计/方法论/途径

这项解释性研究采用媒体分析和从业者访谈的两阶段方法来分​​析虚拟宇宙中旅游信息提供、客户体验和客户利益之间的相互作用。它概念化并绘制了新兴元宇宙体验的消费者旅程，重点关注旅游和酒店业元宇宙设计先驱的想法和实践。

发现

基于媒体分析和对27位设计师的采访，提出了元宇宙-信息-体验-效益（MIEB）模型，包含三个部分（信息特征、客户体验和客户效益）和9个部分的31个支撑项。

原创性/价值

这项研究的独特贡献之一是 MIEB 模型，该模型将元宇宙应用于客户旅程管理（旅行前、旅行中和旅行后）。研究结果基于元界设计者的实践视角，为该模型的当前文献做出了贡献，并为如何将 MIEB 模型纳入旅游和酒店管理中应用元界提供了见解。研究结果还通过关注利益相关者（包括媒体和元界应用程序设计者）的观点，解决了现有的文献空白，即对客户旅行旅程各个阶段的元界管理和设计研究不足。与虚拟宇宙的先驱者进行半结构化访谈以深入了解旅游体验的设计也不同于其他虚拟宇宙旅游研究，尽管这并没有被认为是一个重要的创新点。