This paper proposes a gamified approach to promote tourism attractions based on users' interaction with a virtual pet in the context of an AR mobile application. Technology Acceptance Model, 6–11 Framework and Persuasive Systems Design are combined, to extract factors influencing the intention to travel with the virtual pet. A survey questionnaire was developed and administered online to 539 participants. Outcomes of this study highlight the significant role of emotional attachment and rewarding experience towards intention to travel with a virtual pet. The outcomes also helped us to develop a new ‘Intention to Travel’ (I2T) model. To interest and excite prospective visitors, a design of a mobile game with Augmented Reality (AR) features is proposed which will involve engaging interactions with virtual pets to attract visitors to desired location(s). Practitioners such as game developers and tourism policy makers may consider the virtual pets as a vehicle to impact tourists' behavior.

本文提出了一种基于用户与虚拟宠物在 AR 移动应用程序中的交互的游戏化方法来推广旅游景点。技术接受模型，6-11框架和说服系统设计相结合，提取影响虚拟宠物出行意愿的因素。为 539 名参与者开发并在线管理了一份调查问卷。这项研究的结果突出了情感依恋和奖励体验对与虚拟宠物一起旅行的意图的重要作用。结果还帮助我们开发了一个新的“旅行意向”(I2T) 模型。为了吸引和激发潜在访客的兴趣，提出了一种具有增强现实 (AR) 功能的手机游戏设计，该游戏将涉及与虚拟宠物的互动，以将访客吸引到所需的位置。游戏开发商和旅游政策制定者等从业者可能会将虚拟宠物视为影响游客行为的工具。