Tourism board revamps website
Montco 360 offers immersive tours of county attractions
UPPERMERION » The Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board (VFTCB) has launched an updated version of its Montco 360 platform — which gives visitors an “immersive virtual tour” of Montgomery County attractions.
Visitors to the Montco 360 site can look inside areas hotels, event venues and attractions, according to the agency. It’s a tool designed to be used by meeting planners as well as those looking to visit Montgomery County.
“We’re so excited to be able to elevate awareness of Valley Forge and Montgomery County, PA by virtually walking our clients through properties, and continuing to connect them with venues, and amenities, that they want and need to make decisions,” Scott Higgins, associate director of sales and business development for the VFTCB. “This will help event planners, and leisure guests alike, discover a facility’s environment, and all that Montco has to offer — at their own pace.”
The user-friendly tool embeds tours of various locations on the tourism board’s website — allowing visitors to navigate the destination from anywhere in the world.
“Digital visitors can simply click on the property they want to see to virtually step inside for a 360-degree view, as though they’re there in person,” the press release stated.
In addition, an interactive mapping feature allows visitors to see more details of what else is nearby.
The new site officially launched on Thursday, Dec. 3, and has a targeted completion date of early 2021. So far, the tourism board has filmed at more than 30 Montgomery County locations. Filming of the sites began over the summer.
According to Rachel Riley, spokeswoman for the VFTCB, the agency began talking about the new Montco 360 site last year.
“The previous Montco 360 ended last year, and that’s when we started exploring a new technology partner,” she said Friday.
After an extensive review prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the VFTCB partnered with Threshold 360 on the project. The company specializes in working with destination marketing organizations, and has coverage of more than 100,000 locations, and two million views daily.
Once the project is complete, the Montco 360 program feature nearly 100 attractions, hotels, venues, and sports fields. The images are being shared on social media, and directly to each location’s Google business page, and Google images, where they already have more than 200,000 views.
In 2015, the VFTCB launched the original Montco 360, partnering with Google and using drones to give potential visitors a view of the county’s sites. That original site, according to Riley, offered fewer locations and capabilities.
While Montco 360 can be used by potential visitors, the VFTCB’s sales team will also be able to use the technology to visually walk a client through properties they’re considering, or virtually show a meeting space while attending a conference.
“It truly will allow planners to see it today, and live it tomorrow,” Higgins said.
According to the tourism board, Threshold 360 boasts that its platform doubles a chance that people will book, and has proven to increase overall online bookings and engagement for customers by upwards of 20%.