Tourism Training: An Investigation of Virtual Learning Experience in the Context of a Virtual World

3D virtual environments offer potentials as an educational and training tool for tourism industry professionals and educators. The main goal of this study is to investigate 3D virtual learning experiences in the context of tourism. Self-Determination Theory was used to guide this study. Participants were recruited from an introductory tourism course and a tourism marketing class in the Department of Park, Recreation and Tourism Management at a university in southeast region of the United States. The results of this study found that the satisfaction of the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness are positively related to intrinsic motivation and positive emotions while learning in the virtual worlds. Thus, in order to implement successful virtual-learning courses in the virtual worlds, tourism educators and professionals need to make efforts to foster the satisfaction of psychological needs in the virtual learning environment.

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