VIRTUAL REALITY IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS: PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY

The advent of industry 4.0 and the digitalization of manufacturing has influenced numerous areas while incorporating digitalized service practices. Some sectors have been struggling with the digital transformation, but tourism and travel appear to be steadily embracing the new technologies. As customers' expectations have grown, service interactions have become simplified and highly personalized. Service 4.0 is an approach to meet customer demands, offering services in a more proactive, integrated, customer, and data-driven way, and delivering the services mentioned above through virtual, seamless, dynamic and shared interfaces. Digital environments have been, for a long time, used in the tourism sector to search for travel information, book accommodations, purchase specific travel services, including insurance and the development of additional and complimentary travel arrangements. Traditional touristic activities include travel, lodging, events, restaurant and management services, as well as recreation. These services are being affected by numerous factors, among which we find the immersion into what has been called "the experience economy," as well as demographic and technological changes. The experience economy is the natural progression of businesses towards added-value customer experiences through memorable events. In the experience economy, customers can become passive or active participants in the experience, and the physical and mental connectivity determines the intensity and value of the experience based on the customer's absorption and immersion in it. Using virtual reality as a substitute for real-life travel has grown substantially based on what has been called telepresence, which is used for music festivals and events that are normally too expensive to attend. Newer additions to the use of virtual reality in the tourism and travel sector include teleconferencing and virtual conventions offering a wide variety of new products and services, showcasing the best of the facilities of a specific destination and connecting with people around the world creating an almost real-life experience. The introduction of new technologies in the tourism and travel industry is changing higher education in unprecedented ways. In educational programs, virtual reality has become an important instrument. Because of its relevance, advanced workshops have been developed at a private university in Puebla, Mexico, to help students understand the importance of virtual reality in their field of studies and how this novel tool will impact the travel industry. The objective of this study is to show the development of a workshop specifically created to develop digital skills to introduce virtual reality into the bachelors' degree in Hospitality and Tourism, which can create a more engaging curriculum for students and a wider variety of work and entrepreneurial options for graduates.