360-degree views are a selling point
DURBAN hotels and tourist spots need to catch up to techno-savvy travellers who only want to pay for what they see.
Travellers are not just using travel agents and online sites to plan their trips – they want to literally visually inspect places inside, and out.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, was one such place using the technology, and locally the Peermont Group’s D’oreale Grande at Emperors Palace makes use of 360-degree views of their establishment.
“Travellers want to know that they are getting bang for their buck. Travellers sometimes have a limited budget and need the best values, or a business person is only in a place for a limited time and needs to make the best arrangements, so they need information,” said Frank Bekker, who runs VR 360, a company specialising in 360-degree images loaded onto websites and via Google Street View.
“The best way to give travellers the information they need is for them to see the place they are visiting beforehand.” He showcased his work at the Tourism Indaba at the ICC this week. He said Durban was still catching on to the trend, and hoped the Indaba would expose the need for keeping up with techno-savvy travellers.
“As an example, hotels and tourist spots overseas upload 360-degree images of the inside of their bedrooms so that travellers can see what the facilities are. The traveller can then use Google Street View to essentially walk down the street the hotel is on and see what’s on offer.
“This information is useful for those travellers who want to know where the nearest pharmacy is for emergencies, or a currency converter, or just maybe a supermarket. This information is useful to the traveller so they know whether the establishment or the area meets their needs,” said Bekker.
His recent trip to Germany was all planned using 360-degree images and Google Street View.
“Tourism is virtual – using these technologies is now becoming a standard practice. My recent trip was informed by simply using these virtual tools, and I was assured that I was getting the best value for my money. Also, travellers can be assured of the reputation of a place when they use technology and are on top of the latest trends. It’s the same as people expecting wi-fi at places they visit now,” said Bekker.