Adolescents

1. What are your reactions to a virtual tourism site visit?

A virtual tourism site can be very deceiving. The viewer is lead to believe that they are going to be taking virtual tours of some tropical or exotic place when in actual fact all you get are a few lousy pictures and an advertisement saying: "If you want to see more of Tijuana come visit us for only $....." My personal opinion of a virtual tourism site is that it is a hoax. A person wants to be able to sit back in the comfort of their own home, relax and enjoy the sights of a foreign place without having to take time off of work or spend money. Unfortunately being a virtual place, a person does not get the opportunity to actually experience the place and the many wonderful explorations that come with it. Being able to explore somewhere you have never been, the sensation of being somewhere new and escaping the day to day life you are used to. It does not give you the chance to explore the culture and foods that differ from our society. The average person stares at a computer daily for work purposes so why would staring at a computer for a vacation give anyone the thrill of an actual vacation. I love the thought of being somewhere warm and different being able to learn as well as relax and not have to worry that in the next minute or so of your relaxation time, your phone is going to ring and another errand will have to be run. I do not believe that any of the virtual sites are doing anything but advertising and trying to entice people to visit their location. A virtual site is more of a tease to the average person who cannot afford to take the time or money to enjoy a real vacation.

2. Was your selected location designed as a virtual tourism site or was it travel information aimed at getting you to visit?

The site that I chose to express my opinions on was: www.seetijuana.com/. At this site it gave me the opportunity to have free visitors guides, have virtual reality tours, enjoy Mexican music, and watch video tours and slide shows. Each of these sections was not all as exciting as they seemed. When a tourist looks into an activity or some sort of culture having to do with the visited area, a person expects to get a sense of involvement and gratification the music was not charismic, it does not give you the atmosphere, and you can not smell the fresh air. I feel that virtual tourism is simply for advertisement not simply for enjoyment. A vacation cannot be truly enjoyable unless you can experience everything first hand not through a computer. The information provided by the site was everything to help entice your appetite in order to get you to want to be in Tijuana. It talked about the sights and showed a picture, it showed pictures of the foods, the parties, the people, and the wineries and much more, no one can enjoy these things without being there themselves. A person will now want to go and try some of the fine wines, be able to dance to the band, taste the exquisite food and be able to see the sights. For these reasons, I feel that any virtual sites goals are based on the idea to make people want to go on vacation to these locations.

3. How did the virtual experience compare to actual places you have visited as a tourist?

As I stated earlier, I do not feel a virtual vacation is to be considered an experience, you are not actually experiencing anything, and you are looking at pictures of something you would like to experience. I do not feel it is worth anyone's while to compare a virtual vacation to a real one. I do understand that for many people money and time are an issue, as they are for me, but I also feel that this is a tease and unfair to the person who will not be able to afford to go on this vacation. I've been to Disney World on a few occasions, but a virtual tour of Disney is not going to satisfy my appetite,