Exploring the Metaverse in Tourism Literature Using NVivo

The primary objective of this research is to clarify the concept of the metaverse, which has been subject to ambiguity and calls for further understanding of its nature and purpose. The term “metaverse” has been in existence for almost three decades; yet, there remains uncertainty surrounding its precise definition, functionality, and potential impact on our daily lives. To address these uncertainties, the current paper provides a comprehensive articles’ review on the metaverse in the context of tourism. The research utilized a mixed content analysis approach, which involved analyzing academic articles using NVivo14 and quantifying the data. To gain a holistic understanding, a diverse range of sources including business reports and web articles were also gathered, apart from academic data bases. This qualitative aspect of the study helped to provide additional insights and support the findings. The metaverse is described as a parallel reality to the physical world, possessing distinctive features such as persistency, collectivity, interactivity, continuous evolution, interoperability, and immersiveness. Its 3D nature further enhances its potential to be the future version of the internet. However, despite the advancements, many researchers believe that a fully integrated and operational metaverse is still distant, and it is currently considered more of a fictional concept.