MetaTourism - April Rundown

Stay updated with news from the Metaverse & Travel sector

Welcome Metatourists,

This month we are excited to have some new members join us, including My Taiken from Japan that provide an incredible array of traditional Japanese cultural experiences.

We also held our first in a series of webinars for the African Tourism Industry in metaverse platform Africarare. It was a great success with attendees asking questions and enjoying exploring while engaging with the presentation titled: Unlocking the Opportunities of the Metaverse for the Travel Sector.

We are excited to bring you the second edition of our MetaTourism newsletter. We will aim to release a newsletter at the end of each month so please feel free to send us ideas, news, events and updates about the Metaverse & Travel sector.

Mapping the Metaverse for tourists?

Do you trust Google maps more than your local road signs? I know many that do and the truth is technology is starting to keep up with local authorities. This month I was reading an article that suggests that smartphones may affect our ability to navigate. However, maps were originally concerned with storytelling and this aspect of cartography may be saved, used and enhanced as we expand our virtual environments. The way a map is designed and consumed is important for our understanding of the relationship between the tourist and the destination.

Just this month we saw that Barcelona removed a popular tourist stop off point from Google and Apple maps which had a surprising effect on the footfall in that area. If maps guide us to experiences and can change the way people understand the world around them then who is creating the maps of future virtual worlds? Today, there are several technology providers and Metaverses engaged in map design but wouldn’t it be useful to look at how we mapped the current world and what maps appeal to what segments of the population. There is a research paper in this topic. If anybody has insights, opinions or an interest in the future of mapping we are all ears.

IN THE NEWS

Meta wants to bring students as young as 13 into the metaverse. Read more

Canary Island Residents protesting OverTourism is an ongoing issue. Read More

The International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) published a response to the EU Commissions consultation on competition in Gen AI & Virtual Worlds. Read Here (As a side note, I help to produce a podcast series on Refi and financial with the wonderful team at INATBA - have a listen here)

Google is promoting it’s Travel AI tools across its platforms. Read More

New report suggests that the Virtual Tour market is estimated to reach $17.88 billion by 2035. Read more

IEEE Open Call for papers on Technology Management in Metaverse Technology and Applications. Read More

Updates on the 360 Treadmill for Disney’s Metaverse project. Read more

International Congress: Towards the Responsible Development of the Metaverse in Alicante, June 13 + 14. Open Call for Papers here

Venice Entry Fee Sparks Confusion and Protest. Read More

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT - MINTPASS

MintPass is a travel companion app for sharing travel recommendations and earning rewards for inspiring others. Collect digital souvenirs when you travel to curate your lived experiences as word-of-mouth travel recommendations. Share your recs with friends and other travelers, and receive rewards when your experiences inspire their adventures. Visit us at www.mintpass.com to sign up for the early waitlist to access the app once live!

Congratulations to Sam Simmons, Founder of Mintpass on his recent start-up pitch at ITB Berlin. You will find a video of the pitches here.

We are delighted to participate in a round of upcoming Twitter Spaces to discuss the future of travel with Mintpass, Camino Network and other leading organisations from the Web3 travel arena. Join us on X for these insightful discussions.

METAVERSE EVENTS

8 May ARVR Innovate Conference (Dublin, Ireland)

22 May MTA Webinar - Metaverse Marketing: Harnessing the Power of New Technology for Brand Growthd

18 - 20 June AWE US (Long Beach, California)

13 – 14 June Towards a Responsible Development of the Metaverse (Alicante, Spain)

29 – 30 Oct AWE EU 2024 (Vienna, Austria)

METAVERSE JOBS

Improbable: Lead Technical Designer - Metaverse

Zreality: Senior Sales Manager AI & Metaverse Solutions

Meta: Technical Artist, Metaverse

RECOMMENDED READS

The Metaverse of Fernando Pessoa - “Although in his 47 years on earth he rarely left his beloved Lisbon, he was an intrepid voyager of the inner cosmos, a discoverer of new worlds within the fathomless depths of the self.”

Rising global temperatures are already affecting the tourism industry - This is an old article but it was sent to us again this week and is worth a read.

A Brief History of Maps. Following on from our discussion earlier around the future of map design here is an interested and brief history of maps.

JOIN US

We welcome all who are interested in the business of travel to join us at the MTA and work together to ignite, inform and inspire the hybrid future of travel. The MTA is committed to exploring and developing a greater understanding of the potential that advanced technologies offer when creating new tourism business models and enhancing existing travel services.

Please feel free to share your Metaverse or Travel news with us.