A “new normal” conceptual approach; augmented reality (ar) tourism in terengganu

Tourism is one of the sectors that has been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, governments around the globe have taken measures to ease the effect of the resulting economic downturn on households and businesses in a bid to prolong survivability of the public. In the longer run, this tourism industry will desperately need to adapt to a post-pandemic “new normal” to sustain the income of its tourism players and operators. The alternative to coping with the new normal is to migrate from the classical model to an advanced or high-technology approach. “High-Tech” devices or tools can play an important role towards the recovery of the tourism industry following the upheaval caused by the pandemic. The new standard operating procedures (SOPs) to mitigate the spread of the disease, health consciousness and better hygiene protocols, and as well as social distancing are likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future. Touchless services delivery and investments in digital technology could facilitate an industry-wide recovery. The use of modern technology is quickly becoming a necessity for many destinations in order to stay competitive and attractive in the new norm of the tourism industry. A new form of technology that may be suitable for the tourism industry to use to regain some of its former glory is that of virtual and or Augmented Reality (AR). The aim of this paper is to give industry players an insight into the basic design of a mobile AR Tourism application for the state of Terengganu in Malaysia. Several interesting places will be selected for AR Tourism research and practice. The AR Tourism app will be designed to serve a specific purpose for the user, while multi-language functionality, ease-of-use and the capability to personalise the app are among the main requirements that need to be considered in attracting tourists and encouraging regular use among travel enthusiasts.