Constrained and virtually traveling? Exploring the effect of travel constraints on intention to use virtual reality in tourism

The COVID-19 pandemic gravely affected the travel industry, with many changes in terms of customers’ attitudes and behavior. Since people had limited ability to visit far-away destinations, this paper studies the effect of travel constraints on behavioral intention to use virtual reality (VR) in tourism. The data revealed the relationship between structural and intrapersonal travel constraints and intention to use VR in tourism is mediated by the perceived ease of use and usefulness of VR. This finding implies that, in the case of a constrained environment such as a sanitary crisis, VR becomes one viable solution to deal with the situation only when coupled with good perceived usefulness and ease of use. The interpersonal travel constraints do not affect the same intention. This result might lead to a new way to increase VR adoption to explore a destination in the virtual world, namely by sharing the experience with family and friends. These findings show that any restricted environment may benefit from the use of virtual reality to compensate for the inability to travel. •Structural travel constraints have an effect on intention to use VR in tourism.•Intrapersonal travel constraints have an effect on intention to use VR in tourism.•Perceived usefulness and ease of use of VR mediate these relationships.•Interpersonal travel constrains do not affect intention to use VR in tourism.•Traditional travel motivations do not predict intention to use VR in tourism.