ScanView Press Release - March 2017
360° Virtual Tours Now An Essential Sales Tool For New Zealand Event Venues
TAURANGA, March 2017: 360° virtual tours are fast becoming a must-have item for all event venue and accommodation providers as a growing number of potential customers want an immersive look inside before deciding whether to enquire or book.
ScanView has been shooting high-quality panoramic images for Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty event venues, hospitality and tourism businesses for the past 12 months. Their clients say it has become a highly-effective way to boost bookings and the tours are generating tens of thousands of online and social media ‘hits’.
Each virtual tour allows people to explore inside a reception venue, conference centre, individual hotel room or restaurant from the convenience of their laptop, tablet or smart phone.
Ellerslie Event Centre executive manager (events & projects), Kim Walsh, says their virtual tour has proven to be an enormous help in the sales process.
Virtual tours of a dozen key indoor and outdoor spaces are now available on Ellerslie Event Centre’s own website, while 25,000 people have accessed their 360° tours directly off Ellerslie’s Google Maps listing.
“Our clients really appreciate the virtual tour, especially if they’re not in Auckland, because they get a good view of the rooms and can see what the spaces look like.
“It’s also really valuable during our busy periods when our rooms are in use and we can’t take people through in person – it gives them peace of mind to know what they’re getting,” she says.
Tauranga wedding venue operator, Lisa Patillo, agrees. The owner of Olive Tree Cottage says the 360° images ScanView put together were “beautiful” and have helped boost her overall Google rankings.
“The tour allows brides who are overseas or outside Tauranga to see our venue as a whole and how it flows, not just snapshots of the place. It gives them greater confidence when making a booking,” she says.
ScanView managing director Mike Watt says businesses focus a lot of time and effort preparing their physical premises to attract customers but often that’s not replicated online where today’s consumer is making their decisions about where to book and spend their money.
“The interactive virtual tours give customers the best view of a business and the added confidence to visit or make a booking. You can step directly inside key venue spaces or conference facilities and view an entire room as if you were standing there in person.”
Watt says independent research conducted in 2015 for Google showed those who view a business listing with a virtual tour are twice as likely to make a booking.
“That figure is even higher for millennial customers. Those aged 18-34 are 130% more likely to book if a virtual tour is available for them to see first. Event and wedding venues in particular, can’t afford to ignore that market segment.”
Aside from reaching new customers on their own website, venues can also increase their visibility on Facebook and Google. The 360° tours feature on Google’s main platforms including Google Search and Google Maps.
“Our virtual tours are a fantastic thing to share on social media platforms too. Dozens of our customers get a lot of positive feedback on their Facebook pages every time they share the interactive 360° images,” Watt says.
“We can also create an offline version which doesn’t need an internet connection. It’s ideal for use at tradeshows to give event venues that extra ‘wow’ factor to attract customer interest.”
To find out more about the ScanView virtual tours, visit www.scanview.co.nz
For more information or images please contact:
Mike Watt
ScanView Managing Director
P: 07 346 1010
M: 022 126 7354
E: mike.watt@scanview.co.nz