Meta-tourism in Saudi Arabia: a study of metaverse experiences, mental imagery, and telepresence in developing tourists' intentions

The introduction of metaverse technology is transforming the way tourists feel, judge, and experience destinations before they visit them. The current systematic literature review explores nascent knowledge in meta-tourism, with a particular emphasis on the incorporation of immersive technology, telepresence, and mental imagery as variables of visitor intentions as a subset of the Saudi Arabian Vision 2030 programme. The review adheres to the PRISMA 2020 guideline; peer-reviewed articles that had been published in 2018–2025 were in Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar following an extensive Boolean search, including the keywords metaverse tourism, virtual reality, telepresence, mental imagery, and tourist intention. Eighty-two empirical and conceptual papers were eligible to meet inclusion criteria. Four themes are outlined, including conceptual development of metaverse and meta tourism, telepresence and immersive experience in destination image construction, and expansion of mental imagery as cognitive mediator of virtual and real travel behavior. Results have shown that telepresence and the vividness of mental images co-create stronger anticipatory feelings, which increase the behavioral intention and the perceived brand image of destinations. However, there is little empirical evidence about the Middle East and the case of Saudi Arabia, in particular. The study highlights the need for consistent digital tourism policies, well-founded moral principles and behavioral frameworks.