Virtual tourism space of cities

Abstract

Objectives The aim of the study is to present the concepts of virtual space functioning in literature and to analyse the quality and quantity of three forms of presentation of tourist spatial data, such as geoportal, virtual walk (excursion) or a video. Material and methods The paper uses descriptive and comparative methods. Results On the basis of the conducted research it was founded that the most represented form of tourist information is a virtual tour. Among the analysed cities, Kraków has the largest number of virtual tours. Conclusions The obtained results allowed us to state that geoportals and virtual walks allow for greater interaction with the user and provide great freedom of choice of content. Thus, they are a good tool for promoting cities. However, they cannot replace the penetration of real tourism space. There is a large dispersion of materials on the web, which increases the time of obtaining information by a potential tourist.

Keywords

• virtual tour
• geoportal
• video
• tourist space
• tourist promotion