Rethinking Consumerism, Innovation and Tourism Sustainability in a Post-Viral World: An Exploratory Study of PIRT Usage in Niagara's Geoparks

Abstract

Tourism resilience in the face of a prevailing pandemic and accompanying global uncertainties remains a concern to many stakeholders. A key area of interest for the industry regards the pandemic's potential to influence change in people's consumption patterns, possibly toward more sustainable, ethical, safe and technologically mediated forms of tourism. Such pandemic-induced attitudinal changes can, in turn, affect how tourism will be consumed in future. These changes may further translate into the need for new exchange relationships, tourism experiences, resources, and innovations to aid interactions between service providers (tour guides), tourists and destinations. With the advent of technology-driven solutions for normalization during the pandemic, some studies have predicted shifts from traditional long-haul travels to virtual tourism as they are considered to be a safer, accessible, and ecologically friendly form of tourism. This exploratory research, therefore, sought to unearth the influence of Covid-19 on Millennial students' preferences for virtual tours in the aftermath of the pandemic. The objectives were to identify factors that can influence intentions for change in people's tourism preferences based on their experience of the pandemic, to explore tourist perceptions about the potential of virtual tour innovations like PIRTs to meet their future preferences, and to investigate how this connection can translate into prospective models in Niagara's geopark tourism sector. Quantitative data was collected from 117 sampled students in the Brock University community through an online questionnaire. The findings revealed that financial, experiential, and ecological concerns are significant factors which will possibly influence Millennials' travel patterns and their inclination to use PIRTS in the post-Covid era. Based on these findings, suggestions are made on how smart tourism innovations such as PIRTs can be harnessed as resilient alternatives to conventional tourism in Niagara Peninsula Aspiring Global Geopark (NPAGG) destinations to promote socio-ecological wellbeing in the region.