The Role of Metaverse in Silk Road’s Tourism:

A Qualitative Study within China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Context

Abstract

This paper examines the potential of emerging immersive technologies like the Metaverse to promote the Silk Road cultural heritage within the framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The ancient Silk Roads facilitated vibrant pan-Eurasian exchange for over 1500 years, catalyzing early globalization. Modern connectivity initiatives like China's BRI focus extensively on infrastructure to revive these cultural linkages that defined the historic Silk Roads. However, realizing the tourism and developmental potential of the intercultural legacy tied to architectural sites, motifs, cuisine, beliefs, and artistic traditions diffused along these historic routes faces contemporary challenges around preservation, geopolitics, site deterioration, costs, uneven access, and cultural homogenization. This study explores the implications of Metaverse in revitalizing this heritage in situ and through digital channels. The paper provides a multi-disciplinary approach to aligning digital revitalization plans around the Metaverse for the future that reconnect modern societies with ancient linkages via immersive storytelling of the Silk Roads.

Introduction

The legendary Silk Roads arose more than two millennia ago, gradually intermeshing into an extensive transcontinental system of trade channels tying significant civilization centers in Europe and Asia through the Eurasian landmass (Tullio and Sampaolo, 2022). These premodern routes served as conduits not just for lucrative commerce but also the vibrant two-way exchange of philosophies, faiths, science, crops, technologies, and artistic traditions that brought societies as far-flung as Ancient Rome, Persia, India, and China into contact (Foltz, 2010; Liu, 2013). Cities like Turfan, Samarkand, and Baghdad evolved into thriving cosmopolitan centers where scholars, traders, and pilgrims synergized knowledge and traditions, linking distant lands (Liu, 2013). This diverse blending resulted in a shared cultural vocabulary that persists through historic structures, food, languages, religions, arts, and customs spread widely across previously connected areas.

Nevertheless, the prospect of harnessing the tourism and developmental potential of the once-unified Silk Road heritage presents a range of multifaceted challenges in the present day (Cheng, Zhang et al., 2024; Normuratovna and Timurovna, 2020). Many of the most significant archeological and heritage sites suffer from inadequate infrastructure support or restoration funding (Akil, Pradadimara et al., 2022; Franklin, 2023; Knutson, 2020; Vasconcelos Vilaça, 2018). In contrast, other regions have been damaged or endangered by ideological extremism, urban development pressures, and military conflicts (Lostal and Vilaça, 2015; Rauf, Ozturk et al., 2021). However, others suffer from sustainability problems arising from over-tourism, access barriers that exclude local participation, or unequal distribution of economic gains, causing discontent (Rauf, Ozturk et al., 2021). Addressing these complex challenges will require innovative new frameworks that leverage contemporary solutions to reconnect communities to this shared cultural heritage in an accessible way.

In 2013, China proposed an ambitious successor to the historic Silk Roads - the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) (Qian, 2022). The BRI seeks to strengthen ties and promote cooperation by investing in large-scale infrastructure development such as roads, railways, ports, pipelines, and technology networks, to rebuild land and sea trade corridors between China and other countries (Cui and Song, 2019; Feng, Zhao et al., 2019). However, some experts have criticized the BRI for emphasizing complex infrastructure and economic concerns more than the rich cultural heritage that characterized the ancient Silk Roads (Ahmad and Ullah, 2023; Zhang, K., del Valle-Brena et al., 2022). In order to understand the essence of these historical methods in the modern era, it is necessary to explore new digital opportunities and move beyond physical networks (Gursoy and Altinay, 2021; Mamirkulova, Mi et al., 2020; Zhang, C., Deng et al., 2023).

This paper explores the possibilities of using emerging digital systems centered around AR/VR, and spatially indexed “Metaverse” platforms to preserve and promote the Silk Road heritage inclusively and flexibly. It delves into the historical significance of ancient routes, examines the challenges of physical tourism and preservation, assesses the capabilities of technology, and puts forward recommendations for aligning virtual cultural revitalization with physical reconstruction across Silk Road communities.

By integrating advanced digital technologies with the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage along the Silk Roads within the framework of the BRI, the research aims to fill a critical gap. This gap includes the insufficient use of digital tools in cultural heritage preservation (Zhang, W., 2022), the need for sustainable and comprehensive access to world cultural heritage, and the lack of comprehensive policy frameworks that address these issues.

This study makes specific contributions by:

1. 1.   Propose a comprehensive policy framework that aligns heritage conservation with accessibility and sustainability, ensuring that future generations can appreciate and learn from our shared past.
2. 2.   Introduce innovative participatory digital systems that use Metaverse to facilitate the revival of cultural heritage diversely and inclusively.

Methodology

This qualitative study explores the application of Metaverse environments (see Figure 1) to promote inclusive cultural tourism and preserve Silk Road heritage within China's BRI framework. It adopts an integrative, interdisciplinary research approach spanning geo-informatics, museology, digital heritage conservation, tourism sciences, architecture, planning, and emerging extended reality technologies to formulate policy recommendations.

Figure 1. Tourism in the Metaverse and the possibility of virtual travel

Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/, edited by the authors

The central question illuminated is: How can Metaverse affect the Silk Roads’s tourism?

In order to answer this question, the study adopts an analytic approach consolidates insights derived from over 50 academic studies from leading journals at the intersection of heritage digitization and immersive tourism, including Tourism Management (Buhalis, Leung et al., 2023), International Journal of Tourism Cities (Zhang, J. and Quoquab, 2023), Tourism Review (Zhang, J., Quoquab et al., 2024), International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (Wong, Tan et al., 2023), Information Technology and Tourism (Fazio, Fricano et al., 2023), and Current Issues in Tourism (Medai and Wu, 2023; Özdemir Uçgun and Şahin, 2023; Trunfio, Campana et al., 2020a), surfaced through scholarly databases like Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, along with relevant policy guidelines from agencies like UNESCO, UNWTO, ICOMOS, and EU on matters of digital ethics, community participation needs, and museum technology adoption protocols (EU, 2021; UNESCO, 2013, n.d.; UNWTO, 2013; Wei, 2019).

Complementing academic discourse, applied developer viewpoints were incorporated through technology white papers issued over 2021-2024 by Metaverse, geospatial, and gaming software companies exploring cultural tourism use cases (Constantin, Giuseppe et al., 2023; Gallist and Hagler, 2023). Tourism board documents from Silk Road countries provided grounded insights into adoption roadmaps, visitor personalization techniques, and performance indicators for augmented/virtual reality deployment. Mainstream technology reporting in outlets like VentureBeat, analyzing shifts in consumer attitudes and commercial responses through coverage of the latest virtual museum exhibits and blockchain conventions, supplied a wider diffusion context (Trunfio, Campana et al., 2020b).

Assessing this multilevel analysis combining academic discourse, regulatory guidelines, developer priorities, and market trends responsibly promises to translate technological promise into nuanced policy initiatives to guide Metaverse tourism adoption for Silk Road heritage within the Belt and Road initiative.

Study Area

Over time, many essential trade routes emerged, comprising the expansive Silk Road network across Eurasia. These routes intersected major hubs, beginning in Xi'an in China (UNESCO, 2014) and stretching through Central Asia to Europe (see Figure 2). The Silk Road ultimately terminated in spurs located near Mediterranean and Black Sea ports, which allowed for the connection of various European powers (Kuang, 2016). Feeder maritime trade networks also connected other coastal centers. Besides the namesake Chinese silk textile exports to Roman markets hungry for luxuries, these premodern conduits facilitated regional travel and bartering of gems, spices, teas, medicine, textiles, metals, livestock, and even ideas and people (Liu, 2013).

Figure 2. Map of the cities along the Ancient Silk Roads.

Source: https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/silkroad-interactive-map, edited by the authors

The trade activities along the Silk Roads' corridors aegis left an enduring sociocultural legacy that continues physically through architecture, traditional motifs, cuisine, spiritual offshoots, artistic styles, shared iconography, and in situ heritage diffused widely from East Asia to the gates of Europe (Juliano and Lerner, 2001). The historic routes transformed all connected cultures to varying degrees - many UNESCO sites (see Figure 3) illustrate such blending (UNESCO World Heritage Convention, n.d.).

This cultural heritage shaped by centuries of pan-Eurasian exchange constitutes a powerful binding glue today that can help inspire cooperative regional ties and tourism to rediscover historical connections (Arce Mora, 2022). Several known Silk Road-themed circuits already attract visitors (see Figure 4). Tourists traverse old caravan paths to explore the legacies of once-vibrant hubs like Xi'an, Samarkand, Istanbul, Mousel, Palmyra, Aleppo, and Kashgar up close (Xu and Zhang, 2017). This interest looks likely to expand as more nations open up tourism infrastructure. However, limitations exist in fully optimizing the potential.

Figure 3. UNESCO World Heritage Sites along the Silk Roads.

Source: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/, edited by the authors

Figure 4. Economic impact of tourism in the countries along the Silk Roads.

Source: https://wttc.org/research/economic-impact, edited by the authors

Researchers have highlighted how developing nations hosting heritage remnants along the old Silk Roads confront issues balancing preservation with returns from tourism or urbanization pressures. (Rybina, 2021; Timothy, 2014) observe common issues around visitor capacity limits, transport-lodging deficits, costs, and uneven experience quality stemming from information asymmetry that affect several prominent relic sites (Yao, Wang et al., 2021). Many specific facets hamper tourism flows or conservation today:

1. 1.   Geopolitical barriers arising from tensions between certain nations discourage cross-border tourism, while complex visa policies inhibit regional access and seamless Silk Road circuit completion (Winter, 2021; Xu and Zhang, 2017).
2. 2.   Insufficient infrastructure plagues remote locales, so they cannot support visitor inflows, while connectivity issues like patchy internet also hamper tourism information flows (Mamirkulova, Mi et al., 2020; Manzoor and Wei, 2018; Pechlaner, Thees et al., 2021). Iconic destinations like Venice are slowly sinking under excess tourism. Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan are opening up tourism after years of isolation but may lack resources to host large tourist inflows or restore cultural sites.
3. 3.   Deterioration and damage affect heritage fabric in underfunded conservation sites in Uzbekistan and Pakistan, while extremism and conflicts actively damage irreplaceable sites as in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan (Lostal and Vilaça, 2015; Mytaftsi and Tsironis, 2021; Rybina, 2021).
4. 4.   Accessibility issues arise from a shortage of trained guides, language barriers, analog formats of architectural documentation, maps, museum catalogs, and intangible digital access barriers that affect disabled populations (Kuchumov and Testina, 2020; Lazanyuk and Revinova, 2020; Li, Tavitiyaman et al., 2021). This impedes visitors' access and understanding.
5. 5.   High costs and resentment as Silk Road tourism and private museums remain elite spaces. At the same time, ethical issues confront developing regions where locals are excluded from economic gains due to power imbalances (Deng and Hu, 2019; Timothy, 2014). Resentment affects community participation, which is essential for preservation.
6. 6.   Intangible heritage vulnerability as cultural bearers age while globalized youth lose connection with traditions (Gong, 2020; Zhuang, 2021). Mechanisms for grassroots, equitable cultural transmission lack.

These concerns highlight the need for sustainable solutions that balance preservation with inclusive experience design, leveraging technology like Metaverse as an equalizer to help locals reclaim cultural agency. Here comes the reason for choosing this study and its importance.

Results

The impact of Metaverse on tourism sector dynamics

The studies show that there are substantial interrelationships and overlap (see Table 1) between Metaverse applications across tourism, culture, travel, entertainment, dining, events, and shopping:

Table 1. The prelateship between and various related sectors.

The relationship between;	Summary
Metaverse & Tourism	Imagine entering a virtual world where you can explore exotic destinations, historical landmarks, and natural wonders – all without leaving your home. Metaverse tourism allows users to virtually visit places they've always dreamed of, interact with digital replicas of famous sites, and even participate in guided tours led by AI avatars.
Metaverse & Culture	The Metaverse provides a canvas for cultural expression, blending traditional art forms with digital creativity. Museums, galleries, and theaters are physically present. They allow users to appreciate artistic performances, music, dance, and theater from different cultures. In immersive Metaverse spaces, festivals and cultural events can also be experienced.
Metaverse & Travel	In the Metaverse, travel transcends physical limitations. Users can teleport to distant planets, explore fantasy worlds, or revisit historical eras.
Metaverse & Recreation /Leisure	The Metaverse offers entertainment activities ranging from virtual theme parks to peaceful parks. Users can play sports, play games, attend concerts, or relax in tranquil virtual environments. Socializing with friends and meeting new people is also part of the Metaverse entertainment experience.
Metaverse & Entertainment	The Metaverse hosts a plethora of entertainment options. Attend virtual concerts, watch movies in 3D theaters, or participate in interactive storytelling experiences.. Games are also important to Metaverse entertainment, with multiplayer worlds and immersive gameplay.
Metaverse & Performing	Virtual stages come to life with Metaverse performances. Musicians, actors, and dancers showcase their talents, often blurring the lines between reality and digital art. Live shows and 3D shows are redefining the concept of “live” entertainment.
Metaverse & Dining/Catering	In the Metaverse, dining experiences are reimagined. Visit digital cafés, restaurants, or food festivals. Interact with AI chefs, taste virtual dishes, and share meals with friends worldwide. The Metaverse turns eating into a multi-sensory adventure.
Metaverse & Event/Festival	Metaverse events and festivals celebrate creativity, technology, and community. Attend virtual conventions, participate in cosplay rallies, or join global celebrations. Metaverse fosters a sense of belonging and shared experiences.
Metaverse & Cultural Creativity	Artists, designers, and creatives thrive in the Metaverse. They sculpt virtual sculptures, compose digital symphonies, and design complex avatars. The Metaverse encourages collaboration, pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
Metaverse & Shopping	Virtual marketplaces provide unique shopping experiences. Browse digital storefronts, try on virtual outfits, and purchase exclusive items. Cryptocurrencies and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are essential in transformative commerce.

Utilization of Metaverse in Silk Road’s tourism

Many studies refer that cutting-edge technologies like AI, Blockchain, and cloud computing are being utilized to create immersive systems in the fields of AR/VR, mixed reality (MR), extended reality (XR), and 360° media (Farshid, Paschen et al., 2018; Haydar, Roussel et al., 2011; Wang, Zhang et al., 2022). These advances enable realism opportunities for heritage conservation and experience design (Carroll, Hopper et al., 2021). The results confirm that the Metaverse paradigm synergizes these technologies to create 3D sociocultural worlds representing specific locales along the Silk Roads.

The findings reveal that emerging Metaverse environments can revolutionize Silk Road's heritage tourism by enabling interactive curation unconstrained by the physical constraints that typically restrict cultural access (Schöbel and Leimeister, 2023; Zhang, X., Yang et al., 2022). Metaverse environments that mimic the spatial fabric of Silk Road sites provide a means to digitize and reconstruct iconic places, architecture, and cultural monuments into explorable virtual spaces built on digitization frameworks. Results show that these persistent 3D virtual worlds improve engagement through personal avatars, games, and user co-creation (Gretzel, 2021; Wu, D., 2024). They also overcome existing geographical, language, cost, and capacity barriers facing tourism flows (Bender, Broderick et al., 2018; Rogers, Carter et al., 2022).

This exceptional flexibility significantly aids the preservation and reconstruction of endangered tangible and intangible cultural heritage using digitization techniques like photogrammetry, volumetric capture, and spatial computing (Dogra and Kale, 2020; He, Ma et al., 2017; Sobarna, 2023). However, findings also reveal risks around marginalizing vulnerable communities through inappropriate worldbuilding and lack of participatory design (Carroll, Hopper et al., 2021; Kwok and Koh, 2021). Prioritizing cultural authenticity and community agency is vital.

However, the Metaverse demonstrates the unparalleled capability to exponentially increase access, personalization, and grassroots participation in Silk Road heritage tourism when governance and policies balance associated ethical risks. Results confirm the onset of a tourism transformation.

Metaverse museums lead Silk Road heritage reimagining

Results indicate museums are pioneering investigatory Metaverse systems enabling decentralized, participatory curation and multiplayer cultural questing unrestricted by physical or temporal constraints (Hsiao and Shen, 2023; Schöbel and Leimeister, 2023). Their explorable VR galleries integrate digitally reassembled artifacts with immersive co-curation using 3D-printed NFT collectibles. This reconstitutes fractured cultural heritage into persistent online worlds navigable via blockchain-verified provenance trails (Wu, Y. F. and Kim, 2022).

Findings suggest such conduits effectively resuscitate fading intangible linkages tied to Silk Road living heritage. Fusing digitization with experiential telepresence also redresses limitations around deterioration, uneven access, and costs facing conventional tourism flows (Lazanyuk and Revinova, 2020; Üzümcü and Alyakut, 2022). Results confirm institutions, including the British Museum, now openly share Silk Road 3D assets on participatory platforms, harnessing Minecraft and collaborative Metaverse systems to revive cultural worlds (Sketchfab, n.d.).

The Virtual Silk Road: Xi’an’s Metaverse Digital Twin, a practical example

This study explores constructing participatory Metaverse environments to create commercially viable 3D virtual worlds that promote the preservation and accessibility of Silk Road cultural heritage.

The construction of Metaverse environments necessitates integrating techniques from diverse domains, including geographic visualization, architecture, and game design (see Figure 5). This interdisciplinary conceptual framework, drawing from human-computer interaction, visual computing, economics, and environmental sciences, provides an approach to translating digital possibilities into tangible policy implementation that respects cultural heritage and societal well-being.

Figure 5. Interdisciplinary conceptual framework based on the study's analysis.

The twin digital prototype of Xi'an serves as a testbed according to this framework (see Figure 6, Figure 7 and Figure 8). It reflects the ancient Silk Road starting point's landmarks, architecture, and spatial fabric.

The creation of this interactive virtual double aims to deliver substantial potential for tourism agencies and companies looking to establish an engaging Metaverse presence. It will enable travel firms, municipal administrations, museums, and local businesses to provide an immersive customer experience by allowing virtual exploration of the historic city’s landmarks and streets.

Incorporating key elements like reproducible digital assets, interactive questing through sites, and the ability for users to collect mementos and make purchases from virtual storefronts is vital to creating a compelling visitor journey that encourages sustained engagement. The approach centers on providing an accurate, multisensory, and socially interactive replica that allows stakeholders across industrial tourism to resonate with technologically savvy travelers.

Figure 6. (a) Imagination has been created to illustrate the concept of reviving the Ancient Silk Road through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) using Metaverse platform systems and geospatial digitization. It represents a fusion of historical Silk Road elements with modern technology, offering a glimpse into how this ancient trade route can be reimagined and explored within a virtual environment. (b) Imagination has been created to depict a person using Metaverse glasses to travel back along the historical Silk Road digitally. The Metaverse interface immerses the individual in a vivid, realistic virtual representation of ancient caravans, landmarks, and landscapes. This showcases the seamless integration of historical exploration with modern virtual reality technology. Source: Created by Open AI, edited by the authors

Figure 7. Imagination has been created to showcase Xi'an's vibrant digital twin replica within a Metaverse environment. It highlights the fusion of historical architecture and modern interactive technologies. Source: Created by Open AI, edited by the authors.

Figure 8. Imagination has been created to depict a participatory Metaverse environment for Silk Road's cultural heritage. It showcases a virtual representation of Xi'an with interactive elements and historical landmarks. Source: Created by Open AI, edited by the authors

Discussion

This study contributes to the existing literature by comprehensively examining how Metaverse technologies can be harnessed within China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework to enrich Silk Road tourism. It uniquely combines qualitative insights with a multi-disciplinary approach to explore the potential of digital platforms in preserving and promoting cultural heritage. Specifically, it proposes a policy framework that balances heritage conservation with accessibility and sustainability, introduces innovative digital systems for participatory heritage revival, and showcases the practical application through developing a digital twin of Xi'an. This research fills a critical gap by integrating digital revitalization with physical reconstruction efforts, offering a forward-looking perspective on the sustainable and inclusive promotion of Silk Road's rich historical and cultural legacy.

Top-down digitization initiatives aimed at preserving heritage are open to valid criticisms regarding cultural appropriation, loss of intangible context, and the marginalization of indigenous communities (Hou, Kenderdine et al., 2022; Nancarrow, Yang et al., 2021). While technological innovations offer significant benefits, they cannot replace participatory frameworks that prioritize traditional knowledge systems of artists, linguists, historians, and community organizations along the historical Silk Road circuits. It is crucial to involve local communities in the heritage preservation process by documenting oral histories from those who hold the local culture and minority linguistic groups.

Additionally, realizing the potential of emerging technologies at the intersection of smart tourism, digital heritage, and experiential telepresence requires fostering sustained dialogue through convening multidisciplinary forums of geospatial scientists, human-computer interaction (HCI) designers, tourism boards, museums, and private technology vendors.

Conclusion

The Ancient Silk Roads were historic trade channels, and a lively exchange of cultures and ideas spanned continents. The proposed revitalization of Eurasian communications under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) focuses extensively on complex infrastructure and geostrategic development. However, the cultural fabric that characterized the Silk Roads must also be rediscovered using 21st-century developments. This multi-disciplinary research synthesizes preservation, tourism, and Metaverse dimensions into practical policy guidance for reconciling physical Silk Road rehabilitation programs with appropriate virtual augmentation. Emerging digital systems around the Metaverse provide interactive storytelling mechanisms to revive those ancient East-West connections more comprehensively while avoiding the resource costs and emissions of excessive physical tourism. By connecting physical infrastructure with virtual cultural worlds, the enduring legacy of the connections that defined the ancient Silk Roads can flourish again. However, technical innovation alone cannot reconnect modern societies with this history. Environmental sustainability, community engagement, and equitable access must lie at the core of any vision that seeks to leverage these promising technologies to enhance the potential for shared development across Eurasia and beyond in the 21st century. Tomorrow's digital caravans can carry the best of our shared but fragmented past into the future, fulfilling the technological aspirations of the present with the highest ideals of interconnected history.

While this exploratory study underscores how Metaverse systems can sustainably support the preservation of Silk Road cultural tourism, it's essential to acknowledge that utilizing only secondary sources has the potential to constrain the credibility and scope of the ethnographic study. The absence of primary interview data from Indigenous communities creates a knowledge void that may contribute to external assumptions regarding cultural significance and priorities. Such assumptions can perpetuate inaccurate perceptions of these communities, ultimately hindering their recognition and appreciation.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, B.D.; methodology, B.D.; software, Q.Z.; investigation, B.D. and S.O.; resources, B.D. and S.O.; data curation, B.D.; writing—original draft preparation, B.D.; writing—review and editing, B.D. and P.Y.; supervision, P.Y. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Ethics Declaration

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of the paper.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments about an early version of this article.

Funding Statement

This research was funded by; National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFE0200100), 2021 Policy Directed Program of Jiangsu Province (BZ2021015), Research on the Types and Protection System of Maritime Silk Road Historic Sites in Fujian Province from the Perspective of Large-scale Linear Heritage (SDYY2203), and the 81st batch of research initiation projects at Fujian University of Technology (GY-S21080).

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