Eco-friendly performance as a determining factor of the Adoption of Virtual Reality Applications in National Parks

Nature-based tourism influences ecosystem functioning along waterways: Implications for conservation and management

Nature-based tourism has an influence on ecosystem functioning around watercourses, but this influence lacks scientific evidence. Additionally, strategic and operational management of streams necessitates trade-offs between the recreational activities and values of tourists and riparian zone hospitality services. This paper aims to assist environmentalists and planners by exploring the effects of tourism-based recreational activities on ecosystem functioning along the drawdown zone. The study uses multivariate statistical techniques to delineate the relevant global tourism issues for planners. Kruskal-Wallis tests (p < 0.01) were conducted using quantitative data from 284 transects within the Three Gorges Dam Reservoir in China. The results revealed higher ecosystem function indices than tourism indices. Indicators of tourism contributed both positively and negatively to ecological indicators, with the Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from minor to moderate (r = ̶ 0.24 to 0.38, p < 0.05). Principal component analysis revealed that the critical variables of ecosystem functioning and tourism activities explained 72.26 % of the overall variance. Nevertheless, hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that these indicators responded differently in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sections. Our findings suggest that policymakers should consider the different characteristics of riparian zones in future planning, as doing so will improve both national and global strategic and operational management.

Digital economy development and haze pollution: evidence from China

The development of the digital economy radiates to national ecological protection and resource utilization, holding the key to haze governance. However, as the largest developing country, the impact of China's digital economy on haze pollution has received little attention. Based on the panel data of 275 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2018, this paper studies the impact and mechanism of digital economy development on haze pollution. The results of fixed effect model show that the development of digital economy has a significant negative impact on urban haze pollution in China. The results of heterogeneity analysis show that the development of digital economy has a more significant inhibitory effect on the haze pollution of resource-based cities, non-resource-based cities, eastern cities, and large cities. The quasi-natural experimental results show that the establishment of the "national big data comprehensive experimental area" is conducive to haze pollution control, which proves the conclusion that the digital economy can significantly reduce haze pollution. The development of digital economy can significantly reduce haze pollution by promoting technological innovation and optimizing resource allocation.

Will the Interest Triggered by Virtual Reality (VR) Turn into Intention to Travel (VR vs. Corporeal)? The Moderating Effects of Customer Segmentation

Under the new normal of COVID-19, interest in e-production/e-services has, increasingly, included Virtual Reality (VR) tourism. However, the relationship between the perceived need for VR tourism and the stimulation of intention to corporeal tourism is, yet, vague, where corporeal tourism refers to visiting actual tourism destinations. To investigate the preferred intention of particular tourist modes (VR vs. corporeal), an integrated framework was proposed, by merging key elements from the attention, interest, desire, and action (AIDA) model and the technology-acceptance model (TAM). A sample of 657 respondents was collected, during February 2022, and hypotheses were tested using a partial least square structural equation model (PLS-SEM). The findings showed that interest in VR tourism had a strong hierarchical effect on the behavioral intention to a particular tourist mode, mediated by perceived usefulness or ease of use, attitude, and desire. Interest was significantly linked to two key constructures of TAM, whilst both determined attitude. Attitude significantly influenced the preference intention toward a particular tourism mode, directly and indirectly with users’ desires, as a crucial mediator in the relationship. The individual characteristics moderate the paths, from evaluation to attitude and attitude to the mediator of desire to intention. This study contributes to both theories as well as practices in tourism management and marketing.

Virtual Reality Technology: Analysis based on text and opinion mining

The purpose of this research is to highlight the importance of periodically analyzing the data obtained from the technological sources used by customers, such as user comments on social networks and videos, using qualitative data analysis software. This research analyzes user sentiments, words, and opinions about virtual reality (VR) videos on YouTube in order to explore user reactions to such videos, as well as to establish whether this technology contributes to the sustainability of natural environments. User-generated data can provide important information for decision making about future policies of companies that produce video content. The results of our analysis of 12 videos revealed that users predominantly perceived these videos positively. This conclusion was supported by the findings of an opinion and text analysis, which identified positive reviews for videos and channels with many followers and large numbers of visits. The features such as the quality of the video and the accessibility of technology were appreciated by the viewers, whereas videos that are 100% VR and require special glasses to view them do not have as many visits. However, VR was seen to be a product which viewers were interested in and, according to Google, there are an increasing number of searches and sales of VR glasses in holiday seasons. Emotions of wonder and joy are more evident than emotions of anger or frustration, so positive feelings can be seen to be predominant.