User experiences with web-based 3D virtual travel destination marketing portals: the need for visual indication of interactive 3D elements

The tourism sector has found virtual reality technology to be a good way to market travel destinations for consumers. In this paper, we describe two user studies with three web-based 3D virtual travel destination marketing portals. These three portals were developed to support and attract wintertime tourism into the region by offering a possibility to experience in advance, a virtual snowy scenery with different activities, for example downhill skiing. In both user studies with 21 subjects the focus was on user experience with the 3D virtual travel destination marketing portals. In the second study also the visual design aspects within these portals were studied. Our studies indicate that 3D virtual travel destination marketing portals can enhance 2D web pages, if they offer the possibility to explore the location freely and through different kinds of virtual activities. Also our studies support prior findings of the efficiency of glow effect for indicating interactive 3D elements within a 3D virtual environment.