The Wilmington and Beaches Convention & Visitors Bureau is adding new high-tech tools to help give potential visitors to Wrightsville Beach and other area destinations a better look at the attractions.
The CVB on Friday, May 12 announced it was adding the new SkyNav 3D interactive tour technology via the destination’s official tourism website, WilmingtonAndBeaches.com.
“To be the first destination marketing organization in the nation to roll out a SkyNav tour for the travel and leisure industry is a win for both the New Hanover County tourism industry and our visitors,” said Shawn Braden, executive vice-president of marketing for the CVB. “By providing our visitors with an easy-to-use tool that will positively aid trip-planning, we believe it will not only enhance the virtual experience but also encourage travel, thereby positively impacting visitation to New Hanover County.”
Consumer interest in virtual reality reaches 74 percent in the categories of travel, tourism and adventures, and projected virtual reality active-user growth is expected to rise exponentially over the next three years. Companies that use this forward-thinking immersive technology to market products demonstrate a commitment to the future, the CVB said.
SkyNav is a web-based, next generation immersive experience that allows visitors to engage with a brand without an exclusive delivery device or downloadable app. Visitors can enter into 360° “worlds” that are full of high quality panoramic images and experiences based on their needs, such as viewing videos, image galleries, interactive text and image boxes or various call to actions. SkyNav is the first WebVR-capable product that not only allows visitors to experience areas in a 3D environment on desktop, mobile or tablet, but allows them to view these scenes in VR without a downloadable application. SkyNav is emerging as a next generation experience marketing tool, the CVB said.
The SkyNav 3D tour consists of 13 aerial and 14 ground 360° panoramas that encompass the entire coastline from Wilmington, North Carolina, to its three island beaches: Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach. Wilmington’s tour uses the latest developments of interactivity with over 54 information beacons that are strategically placed throughout the tour. This 3D technology allows visitors to either “fly” or go “ground level” to explore an area, fully immersing themselves via one of the CVB’s 32 videos, or one of 20-plus hotspots, text and images, or click-thrus to partner websites. Visitors that are directionally challenged or not familiar with the area can click on a virtual “air compass”. Users can also share the tour via social channels and email, view the areas via Google maps, and follow the CVB’s social media channels.
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