The Digital Past: Assessing University Students’ Perception Toward VR Heritage Tours

Manal Khalaf

doi:10.38027/smart.v3n1-7

Authors

Manal Khalaf Department of Architecture and Interior Design, University of Bahrain, Sakhir, Kingdom of Bahrain Author https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4027-1253

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.38027/smart.v3n1-7

Keywords:

Virtual Reality , Heritage Site, Tourism, User Perception, University Students

Abstract

This paper explores the perception of university students towards the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in cultural heritage tourism. The research particularly focuses on students’ perceived appeal, influence on physical visit intention, and potential to encourage cultural heritage appreciation. Using a cross-sectional survey of 82 respondents and 6 semi-structured interviews, the study applied descriptive statistics, and multiple regression models to examine the relationship between perceived VR benefits, concerns, adoption factors, and tourism-related outcomes. The findings indicate that respondents generally considered VR heritage tours as a positive addition to the tourism experience with 70.7% rated VR as moderately appealing or higher, 73.2% indicated that a high-quality VR experience would make them at least slightly more likely to visit a heritage site in person, and 87.8% believed that VR could encourage cultural heritage appreciation. The analysis identified accessibility as the most significant and consistent explanatory factor. The study concludes that VR should be placed not as a replacement for physical heritage tourism, but as a complementary smart design tool that supports accessibility, education, pre-visit engagement, and inclusive cultural participation. The findings of this research contribute to smart policy design by providing evidence for how evolving technologies can be governed and employed in ways that balance accessibility, advancement, cultural authenticity, and responsible heritage management.

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