Yoochem

Hi everyone!

In late February I posted this topic. Today, I’m happy to present the results of this research.

First of all though, I want to thank those of you who filled out the survey or participated in the forum discussion. Without you, I could not have written this thesis.

Here is the abstract:

The concept of virtual tourism, which can be defined as a digital approximation of a tourism experience, has gained renewed attention due to the travel restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Several studies describe the relation between people’s travel intention and their virtual tourism experiences. However, much is still unknown about how this relationship works. This thesis therefore combines Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour and Guttentag’s Substitution Acceptance Model to provide insight into the current and future potential of virtual tourism to inspire or substitute real tourism.

 

In pursuance of empirical evidence to support any assertions on this subject, the latest iteration of Microsoft Flight Simulator was used as a surrogate for a virtual tourism experience to investigate the potential of VT from home to complement or substitute real tourism. Its users filled out a survey regarding their experiences with the simulator, attitudes, (social) environment, individual characteristics, and travel intention. In addition, many joined online discussions which yielded qualitative information to complement the survey’s quantitative data. Lastly, three industry experts were interviewed to gain a wider perspective on the issue.

 

The results show that an individual’s experience with the specific destination, attitude towards VT, subjective norms, and barriers to real travel are all important in relation to travel intention based on the VT experience. Similarly, the quality of the experience is related to personal context and, in turn, related to the extent to which VT can replace or inspire real tourism. However, the findings also indicate that these two possibilities are not mutually exclusive, and that VT can serve both functions, i.e. replacing and inspiring travel. Lastly, consideration of VT as a travel replacement does not have a significant relation with travel intention, which implies that VT from home can currently serve as travel inspiration and a way to virtually travel while not reducing the desire for real tourism.

 

If anyone is interested, the full report can be downloaded here. I will also present the results via live video stream this coming Monday at 15:30 (Amsterdam time) - this is the link to the MS Teams meeting.

Questions or comments are more than welcome!

Simple: We still have lockdown in UK.

So ANY desire to fly has to be tempered by the greater desire NOT to inflict damage on my fellow passengers.

I have no desire to KILL them, although I do see examples daily that make me reconsider!

Ah I understand now, yeah I suppose it's the same in many countries at the moment.

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By the way, the survey's closed now. Thanks again to everyone who participated. I will share the results here in due time (probably still at least a month from now).

Thanks for all your input chicagorandy, mallcott, & Kapitan!

- Chicagorandy: Thanks for elaborating - and yes, it can be hard (and often near impossible) to really uncover what comes before what when dealing with these things. But we can try!

- Mallcott: I'm wondering what you mean with "so see answering your question as highly undesirable at the moment" - and I do understand your reluctance to travel at the moment. Does the sim replace a part of that for you (for now), or is it only the aviation (i.e. technical flying) aspect of it that you are interested in?

- Kapitan: I wouldn't be surprised if at least a part of what you're describing will be implemented at some point!

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By the way, I will close the survey this coming Monday. If anyone would still like to collaborate (every single entry helps a ton!) please do so this weekend :D

HI Yoochem

I dont know about others, just my personal motive, I do not see simming as a "substitute" but it does fill the need many times of going places.

 

Being 60 and travelled a lot in the golden days 60/70/80/90s, travelling is not atractive (for me) anymore. Places are full of people, tourism is fake, artificial depiction of locations, there are no more "untouched cultures" where you can penetrate and discover, everywhere is full of tourists and social media has all the selfies and photos you can imagine. For the new generation, thats all they ve seen, all they got.

 

For me, Im from other times when you could backpack in Europe or hitchhike for 5 dollars a day, make friends, start relationships, go to places where they never saw a foreigner before...freedom, less burocracy, less "you cant go there", "you cant say that" its innapropriate" ...etc, in other words: The Current World"

 

Airplane travel itself sucks, no food, no sincere smiles or small talk, no change of cards, no fun. I do like simming recreating voyages but just the plane route since we are all aviation lovers here.

 

I think your assessment is correct, just wanted to add that because simming is a desktop hobby, it atracts many retired and mature adults that are sitting at home in their leisure time. Its possibly the ONLY computer game in the world that has so many mature fans that take a game seriously, and perhaps Im not mistaken to say we are a majority.

 

Its not a substitute, but its not a "wish I was travelling for real" either

Hi Kapitan, thanks for your elaborate answer, really interesting take on the concept. You actually touch upon another relationship that came out of my statistics: age and travel attitude seem to be negatively correlated (i.e., the older the person, the less likely he/she is to like the idea of traveling). I thought it was just a little fluke that is not really related to my main research topic but your explanation fits very well with this finding, so thank you for that.

I do have one question for you though, and I'm really interested to know the answer. When you say that simming is not a "substitute" but does often fill the need of going places, what do you mean, exactly? What is a substitute for you?

I am also a member of the 'seasoned' citizens at 72, some might say well past my 'use by' date - LOL - at least my knees sure are, which dramatically limits my mobility and desire to have to walk distances, which is almost the definition of European travel..... walking.

 

I fly sims because it's too expensive to be a Private Pilot for real and I enjoy a life-long passion for aviation. That is the sole real life experience for which they substitute. For ME, it has zero correlation to actual travel. All my vicarious travel needs are well filled by Public Television and YouTube travel shows and videos.

 

I agree that for many varied reasons vacation travel outside this Country or Canada has lost a lot of its 'charm', and Australia and New Zealand are simply too far and pricey (for ME) to visit.

Thanks for your reply Chicagorandy, you certainly have quite a different perspective on the concept, which is great! I guess you could say that for you, it's really purely about the aviation aspect of the sim (which makes sense). Although I do wonder, as you watch TV and Youtube travel shows/videos, are you never tempted to check out one of these places in the sim? :)

Though I am no spring chicken, I am thankfully still able to travel internationally and love doing so. I got my wife completely addicted to it also.

 

Regarding your question, I am a little confused by it and am not sure I understand it.

 

As I've said before, MFS most definitely motivates my travel ambitions. We are still being cautious due to the pandemic but have started real discussions in the family about some of the destinations that got into my head thanks to MFS, such as Tonga and Samoa. Wherever we do end up going on a family trip in the coming year, whether it's exotic and special or not, I will definitely scope out the area by flying through it on MFS. I will probably even download add-on sceneries, maybe even paying for it if needed, to help educate me about the area.

Hi Neilends, thanks to you as well for adding to the discussion. The question is really about the relation between MFS and travel: how is one related to the other? So far it turns out that there is a relation to travel inspiration, which your experience of scoping out a place beforehand is a great example of. However, it seems that seeing MFS as a travel experience that stands on its own (e.g., flying to a place in the sim just for its own sake and getting a slight sense of 'being there'/traveling from that) has no relation whatsoever to wanting to travel for real.

I'm curious to find out what the reason(s) might be for this.

Does that make the question a bit clearer?

Hi everyone!

I've been doing some first analyses of the data that the survey is producing so far, and the results are very useful.

One of the more interesting things that I can see is that there is a statistical link between seeing MFS as travel inspiration and travel intention, while there is no link (one way or another) between seeing MFS as a travel substitute and travel intention.

In other words: if you get travel inspiration from MFS, you might want to travel more. But seeing MFS as a (very slight) form of travel on its own, does not affect your desire for real travel.

My question to anyone reading this is: what would be your presumed reason for this? Do you have any personal experiences with MFS and/or travel (ideas), that would explain this?

I have my own theories but I'd love to hear some input from the community!

I like airplanes, but that doesnt mean I like air travel (with airlines)

Although I really love what the FBW group is doing, I enjoy that from an PC/sim/IT/ technical standpoint. Not beacuse I can relate to flying an airliner. I just doesnt appeal to me because I have no real time relation to it. (only as a passenger)

If you land the xcub or the c172 I feel it behaves as I remeber, the way (i think) you feel the thermals and bumps for the last 500 ft.

The frustration kick in as I feel and realize that this is not real life. In FSX I enjoyed gliders once in a while, but gaining altitude in a sim is not the same as gaining altitude in a real glider with a seagull 10 meters from your wing tip in the same thermal.

What this game add is when I watch the weather outside and think "hey the real weather almost looks as good as the weather in MSFS" and then its time to go for a walk.

Thank you for elaborating! It sounds a little like you have a love-hate relationship with this sim, or do the good moments outshine the bad? Is there anything you're really missing that would take a part of those frustrations away then?

I've been flying around the USA coast, and it looks so good sometimes I like to land and go swimming! Too bad it's only a simulator.

Hah great suggestion, would be nice huh! Have you flown in other sims or used any other games where you've had this craving before? What makes the difference?

I don't consider myself a die hard flight simmer, although I have had a sim on my disk since FS98.

I fly single engined planes almost exclusively and most flights start from somewhere in the Netherlands.

I have flown gliders in RL in the past and flown all over Europe in GA as a passenger.

MSFS 2020 is the first sim where I can sim realistic VFR.

Once in a while it frustrates me. How realistic it is, it not real flying. Its a game.

In real life there is not pause button and you can't slew or start flying xcub from an airline gate.

You can not replace human contact thru a chat, you can not win the FIA F1 championship on a computer. You can pretend, but it's not the real thing.

I enjoy MSFS, but for me, it's not a replacement but an addition.

Thanks for the great addition to this topic Hansb57! It's full of useful info for my research. What makes this the first realistic VFR sim, and how does that affect your overall experience? And could you give an example of a moment where the realism breaks down and frustrates you? And what does MFS add for you, specifically? :-)

Hi everyone! Thanks for all your input so far. I'm reading some great stories and ideas. I'm traveling (no, for real :-) ) at the moment which means I have to type this on my phone, so I'm going to keep it short.

If I understand well, I see some great suggestions for MFS or VR in general, such as avoiding crowds, enjoying some "post-tourism", or exploring new places that might just get stuck on your mind, especially if you enrich the experience with google.

What I wonder now is if any of you would like to elaborate on how they think MFS influences their travel ideas/desire. As in, what made you choose to fly over a certain place, why was this special, and what (might) cause you to (not) want to travel there (anymore)? Are there any 'condtions' that need to be met, such as your distance from that place (also in a sense of budget and time available) or realism?

In this the 'Age of Internet Malware' I try to never click a link from an unknown source. NOT meant as an offense to the OP, simply stating MY bias.

 

If others have clicked it and had no issues, please let us know.

Absolutely no offense taken! I'd say you're wise to be suspicious/careful. I just really hope you will still fill out the survey at some point now that some others have taken the "leap of faith" ;-)

Yes it's genuine and doesn't ask for your name or address.

 

1. Do you ever have moments when your MSFS experiences make you feel as if you are ‘there’, where you are flying? What were you doing? What do you think contributed to this feeling?

 

Yes I had a "real as it gets" moment on approach into Frankfurt at sunset, following two other aircraft on finals. The buildings and street lights were switching on, even the car headlights were switching on.

 

2. Have you visited any place in MSFS that you would consider really traveling to?

 

Yes, many places all over Europe.

 

3. … or are there any places you visited in MSFS that you feel less inclined to travel to now?

 

Yes, Asia and the Far East.

 

4. Why do you use MSFS? Is this the first time you are using a flight sim?

 

It's become a habit. I've been simming for 18 years, but first used Microsoft Flight Simulator in 1991.

 

5. Who are you? Do you think that MSFS users are a very specific group of people, or do you think anyone could enjoy this sim?

 

I'm a working class, middle-aged British white guy. Anyone could enjoy this sim, but only a specific group of people would spend enough time on it to buy all the peripherals and add-on scenery etc.

First off, thanks so much for filling out the survey! Double thanks for elaborating. I have a lot of questions to follow up but I'll try not to overwhelm you. Perhaps the most important question on my mind is: do you think MSFS has anything to do with you considering to travel to certain places in Europe, or not considering Asia/the Far East? If so, for what reasons do you think?

I filled out the survey and it is legitimate. The author also has a LinkedIn profile that corroborates who he is.

 

As for the topic, I am the son of a United Nations diplomat and have lived in 5 countries on 3 continents, so traveling the world is in my blood. I am always hungry for it, and I am very blessed to have seen many different parts of the world. How does MFS impact my views? Quite a bit, because I am already a travel nut and flying to places I am curious about makes me even *more* nutty about seeing them in real life.

 

Example: I have traveled in real life to Fiji, so I decided to fly around out there in MFS. In doing so I decided to venture out and fly to the Kingdom of Tonga. Now, as my wife can attest, I am insisting that our next opportunity to travel whenever it may come up, we actually visit Tonga.

Also thanks to you for filling it out and taking the time to write a reply Neilends! I love your reply; it's exactly what my thesis is about. Did you have any specific reason to try flying to Tonga in MFS? And, as a self-proclaimed travel nut, do you think MFS also (very slightly) satisfy that travel itch for you in some way? Or is it only the opposite? What are the reasons for this, do you t

In this the 'Age of Internet Malware' I try to never click a link from an unknown source. NOT meant as an offense to the OP, simply stating MY bias.

 

If others have clicked it and had no issues, please let us know.

Absolutely no offense taken! I'd say you're wise to be suspicious/careful. I just really hope you will still fill out the survey at some point now that some others have taken the "leap of faith" ;-)

Yes it's genuine and doesn't ask for your name or address.

 

1. Do you ever have moments when your MSFS experiences make you feel as if you are ‘there’, where you are flying? What were you doing? What do you think contributed to this feeling?

 

Yes I had a "real as it gets" moment on approach into Frankfurt at sunset, following two other aircraft on finals. The buildings and street lights were switching on, even the car headlights were switching on.

 

2. Have you visited any place in MSFS that you would consider really traveling to?

 

Yes, many places all over Europe.

 

3. … or are there any places you visited in MSFS that you feel less inclined to travel to now?

 

Yes, Asia and the Far East.

 

4. Why do you use MSFS? Is this the first time you are using a flight sim?

 

It's become a habit. I've been simming for 18 years, but first used Microsoft Flight Simulator in 1991.

 

5. Who are you? Do you think that MSFS users are a very specific group of people, or do you think anyone could enjoy this sim?

 

I'm a working class, middle-aged British white guy. Anyone could enjoy this sim, but only a specific group of people would spend enough time on it to buy all the peripherals and add-on scenery etc.

First off, thanks so much for filling out the survey! Double thanks for elaborating. I have a lot of questions to follow up but I'll try not to overwhelm you. Perhaps the most important question on my mind is: do you think MSFS has anything to do with you considering to travel to certain places in Europe, or not considering Asia/the Far East? If so, for what reasons do you think?

I filled out the survey and it is legitimate. The author also has a LinkedIn profile that corroborates who he is.

 

As for the topic, I am the son of a United Nations diplomat and have lived in 5 countries on 3 continents, so traveling the world is in my blood. I am always hungry for it, and I am very blessed to have seen many different parts of the world. How does MFS impact my views? Quite a bit, because I am already a travel nut and flying to places I am curious about makes me even *more* nutty about seeing them in real life.

 

Example: I have traveled in real life to Fiji, so I decided to fly around out there in MFS. In doing so I decided to venture out and fly to the Kingdom of Tonga. Now, as my wife can attest, I am insisting that our next opportunity to travel whenever it may come up, we actually visit Tonga.

Also thanks to you for filling it out and taking the time to write a reply Neilends! I love your reply; it's exactly what my thesis is about. Did you have any specific reason to try flying to Tonga in MFS? And, as a self-proclaimed travel nut, do you think MFS also (very slightly) satisfy that travel itch for you in some way? Or is it only the opposite? What are the reasons for this, do you t

Hi everyone!

Do you use the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator? Then please keep on reading! Contribute to scientific research by filling out a short 10 min. survey and sharing your experiences in this forum.

MSFS 2020 can easily be considered a new form of virtual tourism: travel without ‘real’ travel. But could this substitute a vacation-feeling to some degree? And why/how? My master’s thesis on Virtual Tourism and Travel will try to answer these questions.

From a personal perspective, this topic really fascinates me: I am both an avid traveller (at least, in ‘normal’ times!) and a MSFS-user myself. My girlfriend and I are both loving this sim since we started using it to fly around both familiar and unfamiliar places around the world… which got me to the point at which I am now with my thesis.

Your thoughts, opinions and experiences can contribute so much to my research and make a difference in a cutting-edge research topic.

Please fill out the survey by clicking on this link. It should only take about 10 minutes of your time, thank you so much in advance!

All done? Time to discuss the topic! Share your experience, opinion, and/or comments about how Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) simulates (or stimulates?) your travel appetite. And of course, discussion about the topic and with each other is not only allowed, but also actively stimulated!

Thanks again and looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Jochem Lips

MSc Tourism, Society, and Environment

Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands

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PS: Wondering what to write about? You can use (but you do not have to restrict yourself to) these questions to get started:

1. Do you ever have moments when your MSFS experiences make you feel as if you are ‘there’, where you are flying? What were you doing? What do you think contributed to this feeling?

2. Have you visited any place in MSFS that you would consider really traveling to?

3. … or are there any places you visited in MSFS that you feel less inclined to travel to now?

4. Why do you use MSFS? Is this the first time you are using a flight sim?

5. Who are you? Do you think that MSFS users are a very specific group of people, or do you think anyone could enjoy this sim?

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Note: by participating in this discussion, you consent to your answers being used for the purposes of this research. This means that what you write might be published or used in e.g., presentations or other material that might be publicly accessible. Anonymity of your answers cannot be guaranteed, although you can request to have your (user)name omitted in the research report and other data resulting from this study. Please explicitly mention this in you answer(s).

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Note to moderators: I have tried to contact this forum's admins to ask if there are any objections against posting this topic. Unfortunately I have not heard back from anyone. If this post breaches forum rules in any way, please let me know and I will modify the topic wherever necessary. Do please note that there are absolutely no commercial interests vested in this research!