Four benefits of VR in hospitality

Virtual reality (VR) is starting to play a central role in hospitality. It's helping teams rethink how they train employees, run operations and create memorable guest experiences.

Before we dive into the details, here's a quick look at four key ways VR is reshaping the hospitality industry today:

1. Accelerated training and empathy building: VR hospitality training can reduce traditional 4-hour in-person sessions into around 20 minutes, while helping build empathy and understanding across corporate and frontline teams.¹
2. Enhanced guest experiences: Personalised VR entertainment and services are creating more memorable stays, from in-flight experiences to in-room adventures.
3. Transparent virtual tours that boost booking confidence: VR hotel tours are emerging as a way to reduce uncertainty around bookings, set realistic expectations and improve advertising accuracy.
4. Improved accessibility and inclusion: VR is opening up tourism and hospitality experiences to guests with disabilities, language barriers or mobility challenges, supporting more inclusive services.

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How is VR transforming the hospitality industry?

The hospitality industry is experiencing a period of transformation. International tourism and investment is rising in key destinations,² and there's renewed investment in premium experiences, accessibility and technology.³

VR is emerging as a solution for this evolving industry. Leading brands such as Lufthansa, Hilton and Airbnb are turning to immersive technology to improve customer experience and streamline operations. This shift reflects a broader trend: According to a survey from technology market researchers at CCS Insight, commissioned by Meta, 100% of employees in the communications and hospitality sectors expect to use VR in their roles in the future.⁴

The business case supports this enthusiasm. A 2025 Total Economic Impact study by Forrester Consulting found that enterprise organisations using Meta Quest headsets achieved USD 4.2 million in net present value, a 219% return on investment and USD 6.1 million in total benefits over three years.⁵ These results demonstrate why VR is becoming an essential technology for hospitality businesses of all sizes.

Below, we dive deeper into the four key areas where VR in hospitality is being put into practice – and reshaping the industry in the process.

1. How VR in hospitality accelerates training and builds empathy

Training is one of the most impactful applications of VR in hospitality. Meta Quest headsets enable realistic training for hotel staff, ranging from front desk simulations and housekeeping scenarios, to managing emergencies or serving international guests. VR is particularly effective for hospitality soft skills training. In hospitality, success depends on empathy, communication and cultural awareness – qualities that are hard to teach and even harder to practice. With VR, staff can rehearse challenging guest interactions, receive feedback and repeat scenarios until confidence comes naturally.

Learning modules can be adapted for multilingual teams and varied hospitality environments, reducing onboarding time and making training more engaging. Beyond the immediate training benefits, VR creates lasting operational advantages. Metrics and data from VR employee training sessions allow managers to track progress and continuously improve workforce capabilities.

These efficiency gains are substantial. Forrester Consulting's Total Economic Impact survey discovered that VR can reduce task worker training by up to 75% and business user training by up to 50%.⁶ The hospitality industry is responding to these results – according to CCS Insight's survey, 31% of the hospitality and recreation industry now uses VR for onboarding and skills training.⁷

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How Hilton is using VR to build empathy and improve operations

Corporate hospitality employees don't always have the opportunity to experience hotel operations up close. To bridge that gap, Hilton developed a VR training programme called Hotel Immersion, which gives employees insight into daily hotel workflows. The programme uses Meta Quest headsets to immerse office staff in hands-on tasks such as setting up room service trays, checking in guests and cleaning hotel rooms.

Through Hilton's VR employee training, staff can practice soft skills and experience the physical demands of housekeeping, condensing 62 cleaning tasks into a timed simulation. This allows staff to walk in the footsteps of frontline team members and guests, gaining a sense of the challenges they face – through scenarios such as broken coffee makers and slow service.

The results have been significant: 94% of participants reported increased empathy for team members, and 75% felt that their problem-solving skills improved.

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2. How VR in hospitality enhances guest experiences with immersive entertainment

Beyond training, VR is transforming the guest experience by offering personalised, immersive entertainment and services that go beyond traditional hospitality offerings. These technologies allow guests to customise their stays, preview excursions and access virtual concierge services for more tailored experiences.

VR also enables unique entertainment options – from in-room adventures and local attraction previews to interactive entertainment and virtual wellness sessions – that can delight guests. Event hosting is enhanced as guests, planners and attendees can walk through virtual event spaces, attend hybrid conferences or join activities remotely.

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How Lufthansa is bringing VR entertainment to business class passengers

Lufthansa had already used Meta Quest to deliver immersive staff training and to showcase its new First and Business Class seating through an experiential exhibit. In 2025, it became the first airline to offer VR in a commercial in-flight environment. Working with Meta and MSM.digital, the German airline introduced Meta Quest headsets in its Allegris Business Class Suite on selected flights.

Passengers can experience immersive entertainment that goes beyond traditional small screens and limited content options. The new curated suite, delivered through Meta Quest, offers a diverse range of experiences. Guests can enjoy cinema experiences with films and TV shows, travel podcasts enhanced with spatial videos, and interactive experiences such as Connect Four and chess. For moments of calm, the suite also includes guided meditation exercises designed for relaxation.

Meta Quest's wireless design lets travellers enjoy VR entertainment without leaving their seats. Full-colour

allows passengers to remain aware of the cabin environment, ensuring safety and keeping the Allegris cabin's luxurious interior visible. It's an innovative approach that transforms long-haul travel into an immersive experience.

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3. How VR in hospitality creates transparent virtual tours that boost booking confidence

Virtual tours have become essential for modern hospitality marketing, inspiring confidence in guests as they make booking decisions. Hotels use virtual reality hotel tours to offer full 360-degree or immersive walk-throughs of rooms, public spaces and amenities. This increases transparency for potential guests.

These VR tours go beyond passive viewing – they let guests explore spaces interactively. Users can toggle between different room layouts, switch interior options, preview accessibility features and access embedded content such as videos or 3D visualisations. Virtual tours also double as compelling branded assets for websites, social channels and event planners, helping properties stand out in crowded markets.

For hospitality organisations looking to move at scale, Meta Horizon managed solutions provides the infrastructure needed to deploy and manage these VR experiences consistently across locations.

The opportunity for improving customer satisfaction is significant. A 2025 study into virtual tours of Airbnb properties used advanced data collection to assess how the feature is received by guests. The findings reveal that integrating virtual tours with physical experiences has a positive impact on customer satisfaction regarding advertising accuracy.⁸

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4. How VR in hospitality improves accessibility and inclusion

VR is making hospitality services and environments more accessible for guests with disabilities, language barriers or mobility challenges. Immersive technology lets guests preview venues for wheelchair routes, navigate hotels remotely and access digital spaces with enhanced navigation and translation features.

Meta Quest provides real-time translation, audio guides and visual cues within virtual tours and training – making hospitality more welcoming to non-native speakers and people of all abilities. This expanded accessibility opens up new markets for hospitality providers and demonstrates commitment to inclusive service.

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How VR tourism is expanding access for people with disabilities

Research backs up the potential for VR to transform accessible tourism. A 2023 study developed a conceptual model to understand how people with disabilities accept and engage with VR tourism. The researchers examined factors such as type and intensity of disability, physical dependencies and design accessibility – all of which influence whether someone will use VR for travel experiences.⁹

The findings are promising. VR tourism provides meaningful access to remote, expensive or physically challenging locations for people with disabilities. The study shows that VR applications can significantly expand tourism opportunities and social interactions for people with disabilities when designed thoughtfully. This includes addressing personal needs, supporting caregiver involvement and incorporating accessible design choices.

These insights highlight the importance of having the right tools and platforms to bring these experiences to life. Meta Quest headsets and Meta Horizon managed solutions provide the infrastructure for organisations to implement these accessible experiences at scale.

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Get in touch with Meta for Work

Discover how Meta Horizon managed solutions can scale your organisation with virtual and mixed reality. Learn how you can use VR and MR to build the future of work and education with our success stories.

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Keep reading about working in virtual reality (VR):

What is the best VR headset for work?
How VR is revolutionising team-building
Six innovations shaping the future of work

Sources

1. "A new perspective on hospitality: How Hilton uses VR to teach empathy", Meta, 2020 https://tech.facebook.com/reality-labs/2020/3/a-new-perspective-on-hospitality-how-hilton-uses-vr-to-teach-empathy/
2. RSM UK, "Leisure and hospitality industry outlook", 2024 https://www.rsmuk.com/insights/consumer-outlook/leisure-and-hospitality-industry-outlook
3. Bianca Lüthy, Hospitality Industry Trends For 2025, EHL Insights, June 2025 https://hospitalityinsights.ehl.edu/hospitality-industry-trends
4. CCS Insight survey, commissioned by Meta, 2024
5. "The Total Economic Impact of Meta Quest", The Total Economic Impact™ Report, Forrester Consulting commissioned by Meta, June 2025. Results are for a composite organisation based on interviewed customers.
6. "The Total Economic Impact of Meta Quest", Forrester Consulting commissioned by Meta, June 2025. Results are for a composite organisation based on interviewed customers.
7. CCS Insight survey, commissioned by Meta, 2024
8. Huimin Liu, Wesley S Roehl, "Do virtual tours really enhance customer satisfaction with physical experiences? A quasi-experimental study on Airbnb", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Volume 62, 2025, Pages 188-195 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2025.01.010
9. Iftikhar, R, Khan, MS, and Pasanchay, K, "Virtual reality tourism and technology acceptance: a disability perspective", Leisure Studies, 42(6), 2022, Pages 849-865 https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2022.2153903