How webcam travel is giving tourism a lifeline during the pandemic
Virtual travel
The places which are visited virtually, through these predominantly static webcams, are varied, numerous, and increasingly popular. Wildlife settings, coastal scenes, city centers, zoos, aquariums, and countryside are all favorites.
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This increase in popularity is unsurprising given the events of 2020. This year, our freedoms have been restricted in a way most people have never experienced. In this context, webcam-travel is a way to connect to nature and the outdoors.
Brockholes Nature Reserve, Lancashire, told me that they saw 850 views of their two nature-cams in February 2020 but two months later, in April, this number had increased to 13,917 – a rise of 1,537%. The companySkylineWebcams, meanwhile, has over 1,000 place-based webcams around the globe showing city centers, heritage sites, and a variety of resorts. In May, they told me that they too had seen an enormous rise in popularity of their webcams, saying:
My researchsupported these reports: I found that nearly a third of the respondents tried webcam-travel for the first time during lockdown, and 64% were viewing webcams for longer periods of time than normal. 69% said they were more likely to physically visit places they had viewed through webcams, when restrictions were lifted.
Webcam travel, therefore, provides a relatively affordable way for tourism organizations to connect with visitors as recovery looms. 90% of respondents felt a sense of connection to place or nature and 83% felt more positive after webcam travel.
Of the two-thirds who tended to view webcams of places that they already knew before lockdown, 83% said that this experience brought back happy memories. One wrote of his favorite webcam at Arnside: “A beautiful and unspoiled place in Cumbria – each time I look at it, it evokes very happy memories of lovely visits there.” Nostalgiacan ward offnegative feelings such as loneliness, boredom, and stress. Thisoffers refugeagainst the challenges, anxieties, and frustrations associated with lockdown.
The subjects of many of the webcams are outdoor natural settings or wildlife-related. Environmental psychology offers insights that help explain this appeal. It has been proven that exposure to natural environments offers wellnessrelated benefitsassociated with positive feelings such as calm, refreshment, and enjoyment. Even exposure to pictures of natural environmentscan be linked tomood restoration.
In 2020, webcam-travel offers a feeling of control over our movements, allowing us to exercise our freedom – at least virtually if not corporeally. Yet the experience is an uplifting one. It seems to be relaxing and improves mood at a time when there are widespread concerns regarding mental health, offering an unfiltered experience that supplements and supports connection to place and nature.
As our freedom of movement continues to be curtailed due to COVID-19, webcam travel seems set to continue. This may strike some as depressing, but webcam-travel is not just a way to cope via escapism or nostalgia: it allows a connection to places we know or plan to explore sometime in 2021.
Suchimaginative travelcan allow us to catch a glimpse of a more positive future. It also offers an opportunity to the tourism sector to connect to its customers as it considers how to recover. And connecting with nature, albeit virtually, is no bad thing for us, the wildlife charities who share their nature-cams, or the planet.
This article byDavid Jarratt, Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management,University of Central Lancashireis republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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