The virtual world will be used increasingly to allow travelers to explore their proposed holiday destinations according to the latest tourism conference in Australia.

This will allow tourists to explore local attractions, investigate new cities and even get a glimpse of their hotel room view online before booking.

The Tourism Futures conference in sunny Queensland offered guests an insight into what to expect for the industry in the digital age. It suggested that virtual worlds would become the norm in the future, with online feeds making or breaking some businesses.

Spokesperson Ms Lauren Papworth identified the the likes of virtual world program ‘Second Life’, where online residents can interact globally at thousands of third-dimension locations through their on-screen avatars. Ms Papworth claimed the goal was to advance existing systems such as ‘Second Life’ and even Google Maps from seeing cities to actually entering buildings and explore pseudo-worlds.

“So you could navigate your way around the hotel, have a paddle, go upstairs, go downstairs and then talk to someone who probably looks like a Barbie doll, because that’s what all the avatars look like at the moment,” she told the conference. “But depending on the hotel’s sense of humour it could be a green blob or an alien and you could talk to them and say: ‘I want to know if there’s any bookings available’.”

While many see the online world as the domain of the iPhone wielding younger generation, it was acknowledged that in just a few years time these people would be planning their first holidays.

With thanks to www.brisbanetimes.com.au for the above information. For more details please refer to their website.