TTLA: Factors affecting the intention to use virtual reality technology of tourists and tourism businesses in Ho Chi Minh City.

                                                         INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOCTORAL THESIS

1. Full name of doctoral candidate: Tran Tuyen 2. Gender: Male

3. Date of birth: June 28, 1997 4. Place of birth: Tien Giang

5. Decision to admit doctoral students:

Decision No. 2949/2021/QD-XHNV-DT dated December 28, 2021, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes to the training process (if any):

Decision to change the research topic title No. 2757/QD-XHNV dated September 28, 2022, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Decision to change the research topic title No. 3930/QD-XHNV dated August 6, 2024, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

7. Thesis title: Factors affecting the intention to use virtual reality technology among tourists and tourism businesses in Ho Chi Minh City.

8. Major: Tourism 9. Code: 9810101.01 

10. Scientific supervisor:

1. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Hanh - University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City

2. Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy - School of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Arts, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:

The overall objective of this study is to assess the factors influencing the intention of tourists and tourism businesses to use virtual reality technology, in order to provide a scientific basis for guiding the use of virtual reality technology in tourism activities, especially as this technology is beginning to develop in Vietnam.

Qualitative research methods used included: semi-systematic review, expert interviews, and focus group discussions with respondents.

For quantitative research, the method Linear structural modeling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS-SEM) was chosen as the approach for the outcome measurement model (reflective). Data were entered and descriptive statistics were analyzed using SPSS software, and linear structural modeling (SEM) based on the PLS-SEM approach was performed using SmartPLS 4.0 software.

The results of the formal quantitative study were obtained from 450 domestic tourists and representatives from 260 travel businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, selected through a convenient sampling method. After evaluating the measurement model, 13 hypotheses of the scale for tourists and 9 hypotheses of the scale for businesses were tested using the bootstrap method with a sample size of 10,000 observations.

For tourists, there are 09 hypotheses supported by the data at a significance level of 1% or 5% and 04 hypotheses rejected (H10, H11, H12, H13) at a significance level of 5%. The main results are as follows:

• Tourists' perceptions of ease of use and usefulness regarding virtual reality technology are positively influenced by user optimism and innovation.

• Discomfort and anxiety did not statistically impact tourists' perceptions of the usability and usefulness of virtual reality technology.

• The optimism and innovative spirit of tourists have a positive impact on their perception of virtual reality technology. Therefore, selecting potential customers and identifying the target audience for virtual reality technology should be considered, as this is not a mass tourism product but a specialized type of tourism.

For tourism businesses, there are 8 hypotheses supported by the data at a significance level of 1% or 5%, and 1 hypothesis rejected (H3) at a significance level of 5%. The main results are as follows:

• Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness had a fairly similar positive impact on the intention of travel business representatives to use virtual reality technology.

• These perceptions are positively influenced by technological advancements, business readiness, and external environmental factors (government, policies, tourism business environment, etc.).

• Technological advancements have the most prominent impact on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, followed by business readiness and external environmental impetus.

The research findings above contribute to the design and implementation of tourism management policies, business governance, and product offerings for tourists, further developing appropriate virtual reality technology in the context of increased technology application in tourism, innovation, and the development of smart and sustainable tourism.

Besides its theoretical and practical contributions, certain limitations in this study have been pointed out to ensure an objective and appropriate evaluation of the research results. The topic also suggests some directions for further research on the topic of virtual reality technology in tourism in Vietnam.

12. Further research directions:

Several further research directions were also suggested, including: Further exploration of specific user experiences after using virtual reality technology, such as realism, fluidity, emotional impact, hedonic happiness, etc., in the virtual world; Research on virtual reality technology should be conducted separately for each type of technology and its applications; A time-series study should be designed to examine intentions and behaviors regarding the use of virtual reality technology at different times, etc.

13. Publications related to the dissertation:

1. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2021), “Virtual tourism – a new kind of tourism: A literature review”,Proceedings ofThe 2nd International conference on Innovations in the Social sciences and Humanities, pp. 592-601.

2. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2022), “Technology acceptance model application in tourism research – A preliminary review”,Proceedings ofThe first international conference on the issues of social sciences and humanities,pp. 758–776.

3. Tran Tuyen (2022), “Virtual tourism in digital transformation of Vietnam tourism sector”,Journal of Tourism(11), pp. 46-49.

4. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2022), “Analysis of Ho Chi Minh City's readiness in developing virtual tourism”, Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH-ICSSH 2022), pp. 49 – 59.

5. Tuyen, Tran, & Hanh, Nguyen (2022), “Virtual tourism: A literature review”,VNUHCM Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities6 (4), pp. 1767-1776.https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.32508/stdjssh.v6i4.784

6. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2023), “Assessing the Adoption of Virtual Tourism in Ho Chi Minh City: A Study on Tourist Evaluation”,Proceedings ofThe international conference on Opportunities and challenges for the task of human resource training in Dak Nong province,pp 397 - 407.

7. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2023), “Virtual Tourism: An Investigation of Tourist Experience and Intention of Use”,Proceedings ofThe international conference on Sustainable tourism development in the Southern region in the new context,pp. 935–948.

8. Tran, Tuyen & Nguyen, Thi Van Hanh (2023), “The Implementation Of Virtual Tourism: A Bibliometric And Visualization Analysis”,Journal of Event, Tourism and Hospitality Studies(3), pp. 36–56.https://doi.org/10.32890/jeth2023.3.3

9. Van Hanh, Nguyen Thi & Tuyen, Tran (2023), “Virtual Tourism as an Alternative to Sustainable Tourism”, Tučková, Z., Dey, SK, Thai, HH and Hoang, SD (Ed.)Impact of Industry 4.0 on Sustainable Tourism, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 81-94.https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-157-820231005

10. Tuyen, Tran & Van Hanh, Nguyen Thi (2024), “Unveiling the Influence of Perceived Limitations: Exploring Tourist Acceptance and Usage Intentions Towards Virtual Tourism in Ho Chi Minh City”, In: Nghia, PT, Thai, VD, Thuy, NT, Son, LH, Huynh, VN. (eds),Advances in Information and Communication Technology ICTA 2023, Lecture Notes in Networks and Systemsvol 848, Springer, Cham, pp. 448 – 455.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50818-9_48

INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS

1. Full name: Tran Tuyen

2. Sex: Male

3. Date of birth: June 28, 1997

4. Place of birth: Tien Giang province

5. Amission decision number 2949/2021/QD-XHNV-DT dated December 28, 2021 by University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi city.

6. Changes in the academic process:

Thesis title change decision number2757/QD-XHNVdated September 28, 2022 by University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi city.

Thesis title change decision number3930/QD-XHNVdated August 6, 2024 by University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi city.

1. Official thesis title: Factors affecting the intention to adopt virtual reality of tourists and tourism businesses in Ho Chi Minh City.

2. Major: Tourism

3. Code: 9810101.01 

4. Supervisors

1. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Hanh - University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh city

2. Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy - School of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Arts, Vietnam National University, Hanoi city.

1. Summary of the new findings of the thesis

The main aim of the research is to assess the factors affecting the intention to utilize virtual reality technology among tourists and tourism enterprises. This assessment seeks to establish a scientific basis for the incorporation of virtual reality technology into tourism activities, particularly as this technology begins to advance in Vietnam.

The qualitative research methodologies incorporate a semi-systematic literature review, expert interviews, and focus group discussions.

The research uses structural equation modeling (SEM) for quantitative analysis, utilizing the partial least squares methodology (PLS-SEM) to develop the measurement model. The reflections are outcomes examined utilizing descriptive statistics via SPSS program. The SEM analysis is performed utilizing SmartPLS 4.0 software, adhering to the PLS-SEM methodology.
The formal quantitative research encompassed 450 domestic tourists and 260 representatives from tourism enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, chosen by the convenience sample technique. Following the assessment of the measurement models, 13 hypotheses related to the tourist scale and 9 hypotheses related to the business scale were examined utilizing the bootstrap approach with a capacity of 10,000 observations.

The findings corroborated 09 hypotheses at the 1% or 5% significance level, whilst 04 hypotheses (H10, H11, H12, H13) were dismissed at the 5% significance level. The principal conclusions are as follows:

- Perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived prospects favorably affect tourists' intention to utilize virtual reality in tourism. Perceived usefulness, and perceived prospects have the greatest influence on the intention to utilize.
- Tourists' optimism and innovativeness favorably influence perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness.

- Discomfort and integrity do not have a significant significant effect on tourists' perceptions of virtual reality in tourism.

-The optimism of tourists and innovation significantly influences the acceptance of virtual reality in tourism. Consequently, it is essential to target prospective tourists and find virtual reality suppliers, as this constitutes a niche tourism product rather than mass tourism.

For enterprises, the results corroborated eight hypotheses at the 1% or 5% significance level, whereas one hypothesis (H3) was rejected at the 5% significance level. The principal conclusions encompass:

- The perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness positively affects tourism organizations' intention to embrace virtual reality. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use had a comparably equivalent influence on enterprises' intention to adopt virtual reality.

-These opinions are favorably affected by technical improvements, organizational readiness, and external motivators (including government backing, policies, and the tourism industry).

- Technological developments exert the greatest influence on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, succeeded by organizational readiness, and external motivators.

The research findings provide Government policy-making and product development strategies to promote the growth of suitable virtual reality in the realms of technology breakthroughs, innovation, smart tourism, and sustainable development in Vietnam. Notwithstanding its theoretical and practical contributions, the study recognizes several limitations that require attention for an objective and suitable assessment. The paper also proposes prospective directions for further research regarding virtual reality in Vietnam.

1. Further research directions

Additional study avenues are proposed, including the necessity to further investigate unique user experiences following the utilization of virtual reality technology, including aspects such as realism, flow, emotion, and hedonic satisfaction within the virtual world. Research on virtual reality in tourism must be undertaken independently for each category of technology and its respective applications; A longitudinal research should be established to examine the intentions and behaviors associated with the utilization of virtual reality in tourism over various time intervals.

1. Thesis-related publications

2. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2021), “Virtual tourism – a new kind of tourism: A literature review”,Proceedings of The 2nd International conference on Innovations in the Social sciences and Humanities, pp. 592-601.

3. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2022), “Technology acceptance model application in tourism research – A preliminary review”,Proceedings of The first international conference on the issues of social sciences and humanities,pp. 758–776.

4. Tran Tuyen (2022), “Virtual reality tourism in the digital transformation of Vietnamese tourism”,Travel Magazine(11), pp. 46-49.

5. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2022), “Analysis of Ho Chi Minh City's readiness in developing virtual reality tourism”,Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH-ICSSH 2022),pp. 49–59.

6. Tuyen, Tran, & Hanh, Nguyen (2022), “Virtual tourism: A literature review”,VNUHCM Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities6 (4), pp. 1767-1776.https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.32508/stdjssh.v6i4.784

7. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2023), “Assessing the Adoption of Virtual Tourism in Ho Chi Minh City: A Study on Tourist Evaluation”,Proceedings of The international conference on Opportunities and challenges for the task of human resource training in Dak Nong province,pp 397 - 407.

8. Tran Tuyen, Nguyen Thi Van Hanh (2023), “Virtual Tourism: An Investigation of Tourist Experience and Intention of Use”,Proceedings of The international conference on Sustainable tourism development in the Southern region in the new context,pp. 935–948.

9. Tran, Tuyen & Nguyen, Thi Van Hanh (2023), “The Implementation Of Virtual Tourism: A Bibliometric And Visualization Analysis”,Journal of Event, Tourism and Hospitality Studies(3), pp. 36–56.https://doi.org/10.32890/jeth2023.3.3

10. Van Hanh, Nguyen Thi & Tuyen, Tran (2023), “Virtual Tourism as an Alternative to Sustainable Tourism”, Tučková, Z., Dey, SK, Thai, HH and Hoang, SD (Ed.)Impact of Industry 4.0 on Sustainable Tourism, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 81-94.https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-157-820231005

11. Tuyen, Tran & Van Hanh, Nguyen Thi (2024), “Unveiling the Influence of Perceived Limitations: Exploring Tourist Acceptance and Usage Intentions Towards Virtual Tourism in Ho Chi Minh City”, In: Nghia, PT, Thai, VD, Thuy, NT, Son, LH, Huynh, VN. (eds),Advances in Information and Communication Technology ICTA 2023, Lecture Notes in Networks and Systemsvol 848, Springer, Cham, pp. 448 – 455.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50818-9_48