The Rise of Virtual Tourism: A New Era of Travel Without the Carbon Footprint

Published on December 1, 2025

Virtual travel has been on the rise in the past few years, especially during the global lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. Virtual travel, once considered a niche experience, has become a popular form of travel for those wishing to go to new places and travel destinations from the comfort of their home. Virtual travel offers people the opportunity to digitally experience destinations from around the world through the use of VR headsets and software, including guided tours of the Louvre in Paris and walking through the pyramids of Egypt.

Recent advancements in virtual tourism have sparked debates in the travel industry about the potential of virtual travel to increase the sustainability of the industry. Traditional travel is under scrutiny for the carbon footprint of flights and the overall toll the travel industry takes on local resources and communities. Virtual travel shows us that travel can be done in an environmentally friendly way. However, can virtual travel be a meaningful substitute for physical travel and contribute to the eventual goal of sustainability in the travel industry?

The growth of virtual tourism post-pandemic

The relevance of virtual tourism skyrocketed during the global lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 when other forms of travel and tourism came to a standstill. Heritage sites, museums, and art galleries shifted to online platforms to provide digital experiences. For example, the Louvre in Paris had 10 million virtual visitors in just a few months after the launch of live-interactive virtual tours that allowed users to access the museum’s famous artefacts from anywhere in the world. Other cultural institutions that opened digital doors to the public include the British Museum in London and the Vatican Museums in Rome, where live tours and recorded tour experiences were streamed.

With the pandemic in the rearview, people are starting to travel again. However, the market for virtual tourism has remained. People are still taking digital vacations, and some companies within the tourism industry have started offering new digital products focused on virtual tourism. For instance, some companies have started offering virtual tours of popular attractions as an additional product for those wanting to preview the attractions before their trip or for those wanting to visit attractions that they would not have the time to visit virtually.

Defining Characteristics of Virtual Travel: VR and Gamified Activities

Virtual tourism is most commonly practised using advanced technology such as virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree video. People are able to completely immerse themselves in a digital experience where they can walk through popular landmarks and hike virtual trails using specialized VR headsets. Virtual tourists are also able to walk around digitally reconstructed historical sites and learn about the new sites in an interactive manner in order to engage with the new content.

Alongside VR, other technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and 360-degree videography are expanding digital virtual tourism offerings. For example, Google Earth and YouTube provide 360-degree travel videos that let visitors preview destinations without the need for expensive VR headsets. Such videos add layers of immersive experiences that promote the digital democratisation of virtual tourism and enable the digital exploration of far-flung destinations for those who may not have the means or ability to travel.

Virtual Tourism and Sustainability: A Greener Future?

Virtual tourism offers the opportunity to significantly minimize the negative environmental impact of travel. Air travel, and the travel industry as a whole, is responsible for enormous global carbon emissions in midstream- connected, and is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. With virtual travel experiences, the flights, long drives, and other detrimental environmental impacts of travel are eliminated.

Virtual tourism enables frequent travelers to appreciate distant destinations without the carbon footprint associated with air travel. It presents opportunities to enjoy the beauty of the world without harming the environment. The reduced demand of flights can lead to fewer emissions, which is an important aspect of the conversation surrounding the tourism trade, and more and more travellers seeking environmentally friendly travel alternatives.

The reduced demand of flights can lead to fewer emissions, which is an important aspect of the conversation surrounding the tourism trade, and more and more travellers seeking environmentally friendly travel alternatives. The potential reduced demand of flights can lead to fewer emissions, which is an important aspect of the conversation surrounding the tourism trade and more and more travellers seeking environmentally friendly travel alternatives. Virture tourism has real benefits for our planet!

There is also the opportunity of virtual tourism to help reduce some of the stress on overcrowded, over-touristed attractions. Concerns over the excessive and environmentally degradative travel to destinations, such as Machu Picchu in Peru, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Great Wall of China, havexe, and the excessive and environmentally degradative travel to destinations. Concerns over the excessive and environmentally degradative travel to destinations, such as Machu Picchu in Peru, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Great Wall of China, have been widely documented. Digital tourism gives travelers the opportunity to virtually visit iconic attractions, such as Machu Picchu, and, therefore, reduces their over-tourism massively to preserve them for future generations.

Virtual Tourism Limitations

Virtual tourism absolutely has advantages related to sustainability; however, there also exist drawbacks that prevent it from being able to replace real world travel altogether. This form of travel lacks myriad of sensory experiences such as real-world travel because there are no breezes from the ocean, local foods cannot be tasted, and real sunlight cannot be felt. The emotional and sensory attachments that people forge in person to attractions and to destinations are next to impossible to achieve in the virtual world.

Also, virtual tourism requires access to technology such as the internet and VR headsets which are not affordable to huge portions of the world. While tech is getting more affordable and accessible, it remains a barrier to many potential users in low income areas of our world.

Virtual Tourism as a Supplementary Experience

It is unlikely that traditional tourism will be entirely replaced, but virtual tourism can be a supplement to the experience of tourism. In some cases, travelling virtually can serve as a precursor to the actual travel experience, but in other situations, people may be unable to travel to a specific destination due to a variety of reasons, including lack of finances, a deficiency of physical resources, or a host of environmental challenges. Furthermore, virtual tourism can help in preserving endangere,d politically suppressed or socially troubled tourism sites.

Virtual tourism is a complement to traditional tourism in the context of an environmentally friendly approach to tourism. The inclusion of virtual travel in tourism packages can contribute to lessening the carbon footprint of tourism.

Looking Ahead to Virtual Tourism

Technological advancements will continue to shape the future of virtual tourism. The impacts of virtual tourism will be significant as the carbon footprint associated with travel becomes an increasingly primary concern of travelers. Virtual tourism will also provide the travel industry with a means to preserve resources while encouraging cultural exchange, educational opportunities, and sustainable practices.