News

The Metaverse and NFTs in the tourism sector

27 January 2023
Metaverso y NFTs en el sector turístico

“Augmented, virtual and mixed reality, cybersecurity and blockchain, artificial intelligence and big data and other software technologies”

One of the uses of the metaverse in the tourism sector is the creation of virtual tourism experiences and the promotion of tourist destinations

The metaverse is a concept that has recently become popular, which refers to a virtual universe in which people can interact and create content in a similar way as they do in the real world. This can be achieved through virtual reality, augmented reality or mixed reality it may be used for a wide range of purposes, such as education, entertainment and communication.

NFTs or non-fungible tokens or units of value are a special type of cryptocurrency that represent ownership of a single, indivisible digital object. These tokens are mainly used in the world of cryptocurrencies. They are used to represent ownership of a digital work of art, a collection of virtual objects, a video game character or even tweets.

NFTs have a value and can be bought and sold like any other asset, and they can also be used to carry out on-line transactions. One of the main advantages of NFTs is they provide a way to authenticate and verify the authenticity of a digital object. Furthermore, NFTs are particularly useful in the context of the metaverse, as they allow users to buy and sell virtual properties in a secure and verifiable manner.

The metaverse and NFTs in the tourism sector

One of the uses of the metaverse in the tourism sector is the creation of virtual tourism experiences and the promotion of tourist destinations. Tourism companies can use the metaverse to create travel simulations or to offer cultural tourism experiences to people who cannot physically travel, as well as to provide personalised virtual guides to their customers to allow tourists to explore tourist destinations in greater depth.

NFTs could be used to sell virtual tickets to these tourism experiences, or to represent ownership of a unique tourism experience.

The metaverse and the NFTs: TECNALIA's vision

The Thinktur initiative has presented the "Metaverse and NFTs in the tourism sector" e-book at FITURTECHY, in collaboration with TECNALIA and the Tourism Technology Centres Group and Malaga City Council’s Tourism Department.

This e-book focuses on the applicability and potential of the metaverse and NFTs in the tourism industry, with the participation of our experts, Jesús Herrero and Óscar Lage.

According to them,"one area of great interest is how all these technologies can help enjoy the experience by addressing the functional diversity of the population. Any contribution along these lines will always be very significant. They also state that"another area of interest is how to take advantage of these virtual scenarios in the post-travel stage, gaining loyalty. All travellers want to relive past experiences and the Metaverse can be a great tool for this".

At TECNALIA, we are working on technologies, such as augmented, virtual and mixed reality, cybersecurity and blockchain, artificial intelligence and big data and other software technologies.

The Metaverse and NFTs e-book

To find out more about the technologies that help to create these new experiences, and download TECNALIA's The Metaverse and NFTs e-book, please contact our colleague, Joseba Laka, Head of Digital Transformation.