People are moved by experiences. They watch the latest soap operas and cable series to live vicariously through the places and characters in the weekly scenes. They devour the contents of glossy magazines and are glued to National Geographic programmes to catch a glimpse of what life is like outside of their familiar surroundings.
For this very reason, there is currently a growing trend in tourism marketing which uses the modern technology of online virtual tours, to place potential travelers as close to reality as they can get before they actually get to their dream destinations.
– How online Virtual Tours can help a tourism business
Imagine a potential destination traveler feeling as though they’re standing at the Voie des Modeleurs, Paris, catching a breathtaking view of a sea of glass tinted by the setting sun. They’ve just viewed a virtual tour of the city of lights on the internet and is more excited than before to visit the destination on their next holiday.
This is the power of the virtual tour in the tourism industry. People get an up close and personal view of what they can expect to get when they visit the destination in person.
– Who stands to benefit from tourism virtual tours?
Travel agents, restaurateurs, hotels, adventure tour agencies, and a range of other tourism industry providers can benefit greatly from investing, either directly or indirectly, in the creation of virtual tours that can help improve their success.
Online virtual tours have been utilized as a marketing tool with success in the business arena in several industries including real estate, automobile manufacture, food, marine and entertainment. In terms of the tourism business industry, recent studies conducted in the US have revealed that two out of three US travelers indicated that a virtual tour of their intended destination would influence their decision to eventually go.
– How can online virtual tours help my tourism business grow?
Reaching and converting people into customers is the mainstay of any business and studies have shown that a virtual tour of a tourism-related business has immense potential to attract customers to that operation. A group of independent researches have revealed that travelers who viewed a virtual tour or video of a place or service are 115% more likely to make a booking than if there were just traditional photographs.
Another huge advantage of using online virtual tours is that your potential clients, all over the world, have access to your sales tool.
Essentially, you are open 24 hours every single day of the week, so at any time, anyone can access the virtual tour and get the benefit of being immersed in the virtual spaces you have provided. This tour is uninterrupted, can be viewed multiple times, giving people the chance to make an informed decision before they call to make a booking.
