Exploring tourist’s metaverse experience using destination spatial presence quality & perceived augmentation: metaverse exploration, physical expedition (MEPE)

A recent surge of interest surrounds metaverse tourism, with researchers highlighting its potential to revolutionize the tourism industry and attract new travellers. This article delves into the key features of a tourist's metaverse experience that influence their desire to visit a destination in the real world using systems theory. In addition, the current study also explores the moderating role of FOMO (Fear of missing out) in few of the proposed relationships. The study is a cross-sectional descriptive investigation carried out among Indian tourists chosen based on the simple random sampling technique and is analyzed using the Smart PLS software. The findings of the study reveal that several attributes of a tourist's metaverse experience, including entertainment, interaction, trendiness, novelty, and intimacy, significantly enhance both the perceived quality of spatial presence within the destination and the level of perceived augmentation experienced by tourists. Notably, both these factors then exert a significant positive influence on a destination's brand equity, ultimately explaining tourists' intentions to visit the physical location. Interestingly, the moderating role of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) suggests that the relationship between brand equity and the likelihood of tourists undertaking a physical visit is strengthened as their perceived FOMO increases.