Cross-Spatial Circulation of Experience in Large-Scale Location-Based VR Cultural Tourism: Media Mechanisms for Sustained Value Transformation

Large-scale location-based virtual reality (LBE VR) has become an important form of immersive cultural tourism, but its role in supporting sustained value transformation remains insufficiently understood. In this study, “sustained value transformation” refers to the extension, reinterpretation, and circulation of cultural, educational, social, and engagement-related value across physical venues, embodied virtual narratives, and digital platforms. Rather than assessing economic performance, environmental impact, or long-term operational viability, this study focuses on the cultural and social circulation of experiential value. It examines how physical venues, embodied virtual narratives, and digital platforms jointly mediate visitor experience in LBE VR-based cultural tourism. It compares representative LBE VR projects in museums and heritage institutions, emerging public cultural spaces, and commercial venues in China. A total of 10,862 project-related textual items and 464 visual samples were collected from Xiaohongshu and Douyin and analyzed through comparative content and visual analyses. The findings show that visitor choices are shaped by both the spirit of place in physical venues and platform-visible experience labels. In museums and heritage institutions, institutional knowledge authority and embodied narrative depth help visitors recognize interactive educational value. In emerging public cultural spaces, the intertwining of historical narratives and commercial operations produces more ambiguous experience labels. In commercial venues, platform discussions focus more strongly on value-for-money judgment, sensory stimulation, product quality, and service experience. The study argues that sustained value transformation in LBE VR-based cultural tourism cannot rely solely on platform traffic. Instead, it depends on collaboration among cultural institutions, tourism enterprises, platform content creators, educational actors, and community stakeholders to preserve cultural distinctiveness, improve experience quality, and extend cultural and social value beyond the immediate on-site experience.