Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on a variety of industries, ranging from health to the economy, and has had a global impact since its emergence. One of the most heavily impacted industries is tourism. Many professions have changed shape as a result of the general public’s work-at-home habits, especially during periods of complete closure. In this sense, virtual tour applications developed by destinations offer a different alternative to consumers in the COVID-19 pandemic. In this process, where travel to many parts of the world is restricted by the COVID-19 pandemic, new technological applications such as virtual reality and augmented reality meet the demands of consumers. At the same time, museums have contributed to the promotion of their destinations with virtual tour applications. This research, it is aimed to comparatively examine the virtual tour applications of museums in the context of destination marketing and to determine whether there is a difference in virtual tour applications of museums. For this purpose, virtual tour applications of two museums selected from home and abroad were compared using the descriptive analysis technique, one of the qualitative research methods. The Istanbul Modern Art Museum in Turkey and The National Gallery in England were researched according to the themes of destination marketing strategy and virtual reality programming language determined within the scope of descriptive analysis. In terms of destination marketing strategy and virtual reality programming language themes, it was concluded that the virtual tour applications of both selected museums were similar.