In 2014, Denmark made headlines when its government let the entire country be recreated in Minecraft for educational purposes, aiming to help students understand Denmark’s landscape and geography in an interactive and engaging way (BBC News, 2014). This pioneering project set a precedent for how virtual worlds could be used for educational and cultural exploration. Now, Wales has taken this concept further by entering the metaverse and becoming the first European nation to launch a dedicated tourism initiative within a virtual realm (Welsh Government services and information, 2024).
The Welsh metaverse, hosted on Spatial, offers virtual visitors an immersive experience of the country’s landmarks and cultural treasures without ever setting foot in Wales. The platform showcases iconic sites, such as castles and cable cars, while allowing users to complete mini quests like discovering hidden dragons. As part of a strategic effort led by Visit Wales and iCreate, the initiative aims to inspire real-world tourism by offering a digital taste of the nation that is accessible from anywhere.
The metaverse and other emerging technologies like AR, VR, and NFTs offer organizations innovative ways to reach global audiences and create value. As noted by Shi et al. (2022), the metaverse overcomes geographic and temporal limitations, allowing organizations to transcend the boundaries of physical interaction. Wales is reshaping the traditional tourism models and opening new opportunities for global engagement, by bridging physical and virtual spaces.
While the virtual platform promises global exposure, I think the challenge for Wales lies in converting the virtual engagement into real-world tourism. However, by being an early adopter of the metaverse for tourism, Wales positions itself as an innovator in the digital space. This move could serve as a model for other regions looking to blend cultural promotion with technological advancement. Do you think this virtual experience in the metaverse could actually inspire global tourists to visit Wales in person, or will it remain more of a digital curiosity?
References:
BBC News. (2014, April 25). Minecraft: All of Denmark virtually recreated. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27155859
Shi, F., Ning, H., Zhang, X., Li, R., Tian, Q., Zhang, S., Zheng, Y., Guo, Y., & Daneshmand, M. (2023). A new technology perspective of the Metaverse: Its essence, framework and challenges. Digital Communications and Networks. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcan.2023.02.017
Welsh Government services and information. (2024, May 13). Croeso i Gymru! Wales becomes first UK nation to launch metaverse experience. GOV.WALES. https://www.gov.wales/croeso-i-gymru-wales-becomes-first-uk-nation-launch-metaverse-experience
Hi Jesse, thank you for sharing your research into this topic! I think you have already addressed an aspect that I think is most important for this topic – can the country translate this into “real world” tourism success? I think it will!
I think it’s highly unlikely that people will visit the digital twin of Wales and then think “oh now I’ve seen it I don’t need to go”. What I think is much more likely is that people will be more interested in actually going and seeing the country in real life! Just think of travel vlogs on Youtube – I personally use them a lot to research travel destinations before I go. One thing doesn’t happen though – I don’t watch the video and then decide not to go because “I’ve seen it on video”. Much rather it increases my wish to go! And as you said, Wales has positioned itself well in the market by being a first mover. I think we will see more of this in the future.