Revolutionising Event Planning with EXPLORE Virtual Tours: The Ultimate Time-Saving Solution for Stress-Free Presentations

Event planning is a highly demanding profession, often ranked by Forbes as the 5th most stressful job in the world.  

Event planners are continually juggling different priorities and tasks, such as scouting the perfect venue, coordinating logistics, and managing budgets. One of the most frustrating aspects of the process can be gathering information and presenting hotel options to decision-makers. We'll discover how E X P L O R E virtual tours can save event planners time and effort, build loyalty with hotels, and why alternatives like 360 tours fall short in meeting the needs of event & travel managers.

Challenges of Traditional Venue Search and Presentations

Venue sourcing is one of the most challenging aspects of an event planner’s job.  They need to have Elephant memories to recall all the specific aspects of a venue and why it may fit with the event they are planning.  Typically, they will need help with this task, but there are more challenges ahead:

1. Limited Information

Event planners often must rely on still photography, floorplans, and limited descriptions to evaluate potential venues. This lack of comprehensive information makes it difficult to accurately assess the suitability of a hotel for a particular event.

2. Time-Consuming Process

Gathering and organising the necessary information to create an effective presentation is a time-consuming process. Event planners are already under immense pressure, and the added stress of creating presentations to present venue options to their bosses can negatively impact their performance and overall well-being.

3. Ineffective Communication

Traditional presentations may not adequately convey the unique features and ambiance of a hotel, making it challenging for decision-makers to fully appreciate the venue’s potential.

The Advantage of E X P L O R E for Event Planners

Being customer-centric means putting customers at the centre of all aspects of your business strategy, focusing on creating a positive experience and building loyalty. This extends to the customer-facing tools hotels choose to use.  Their selection of tools will illustrate whether hotels are placing their own needs ahead of the customer, maybe by selecting the most low-cost solution.  

Here are 3 customer advantages of using E X P L O R E:

1. Time and Effort Savings

With E X P L O R E, planners can access a comprehensive, immersive, and accurate representation of a hotel in a single, easily shareable format. This eliminates the need to gather and compile various pieces of content, saving valuable time and effort.

2. Enhanced Communication 

Video-based virtual tours provide a realistic and engaging experience, allowing decision-makers to visualise the hotel's spaces and amenities as if they were there in person. This helps planners have more confident and effective communication when presenting options to stakeholders.

3. Building Loyalty with Hotels

By showcasing their properties through E X P L O R E, hotels can demonstrate their commitment to providing a superior experience for event planners. This can help build loyalty and long-term relationships between event planners and hotels, resulting in mutually beneficial partnerships.

Why 360 Tours Fall Short for Event Planners 

1. Lack of Immersion

360 tours often lack the immersive qualities of video-based virtual tours. The constant need for interaction can make it difficult for users to focus on the content and can result in a disjointed and less engaging experience.  

2. Limited Information

360 tours primarily consist of static panoramic images, which may not adequately convey the full range of a hotel's features and amenities. This can leave decision-makers with an incomplete understanding of the venue’s potential.

3. Inefficient User Experience

Navigating 360 tours can be a cumbersome and frustrating process often lacking a clear pathway, which adds to an ineffective and poor user experience. This can make it challenging for event planners to effectively communicate the hotel's offerings to their colleagues, and – in their mind – leave an impression of a poor customer experience.

E X P L O R E offers a game-changing solution for event planners, allowing them to save time and effort while providing a more engaging and immersive experience for decision-makers.  By investing in video-based virtual tours, hotels can build loyalty with event planners and facilitate more effective communication, ultimately leading to better outcomes for all parties involved. As the event planning industry continues to evolve, embracing innovative technologies like E X P L O R E will become essential for success.

The Future of Destination Marketing: Why Video-Based Tours Are a Must for Tourist Boards

Tourism plays a vital role in the economy and cultural exchange of many destinations worldwide.  As digital technologies advance, tourist boards are constantly searching for innovative ways to promote their destinations and attract visitors and foreign direct investment.  

Virtual tours have emerged as a powerful tool for showcasing unique aspects of a location, but not all virtual tours are equal. We will discuss the limitations of 360 tours in destination marketing and highlight the benefits of video-based virtual tours for tourist boards, focussing on the unique needs of tourists.

The Limitations of 360 Tours for Tourist Boards

360 tours are also known as panoramic tours and are composed of still images stitched together to create a 360-degree view.  They can be useful tools in small spaces, such as a hotel bedroom, but they lack the immersive and interactive qualities of video-based tours.  Here are 3 limitations:

1. Lack of Immersion and Engagement

As 360 tours primarily comprise of static panoramic images, they can feel less immersive and engaging compared to video-based tours.  They often fail to capture the true essence and atmosphere of a destination, making it difficult for potential visitors to form a strong emotional connection that would lead them to book.

2. Restricted Coverage

360 tours are typically limited in scope, often focussing on a single viewpoint or attraction.  This can leave potential tourists with an incomplete picture of the destination, making it challenging for them to fully appreciate the range of experiences and attractions on offer.

3. Technical Limitations 

360 tours can sometimes suffer from a ‘fisheye’ effect, which can distort images and negatively affect the user's perception of the destination. The quality of 360 images can vary significantly, depending on the equipment and production techniques used by the provider(s).

Why Video-Based Tours Are Ideal for Tourist Boards

Millennials and Gen Z (born between 1981 and 2012) now represent more than 50% of the global traveller market.  The growing influence of this adult traveller cohort has significant implications for destinations looking to attract and engage these generations.  With both cohorts having grown up in the digital era, they have unique expectations and preferences that drive the need, not only for destinations to be more digital but for destinations to utilise more sophisticated methods to connect with and engage this cohort.  Video-based virtual tours connect with some of these key expectations:

1. Authenticity and Storytelling 

Video-based virtual tours, like E X P L O R E, deliver a more authentic and engaging experience by capturing the dynamic nature of a destination.  By incorporating high-quality footage, narration, and background music, they can tell a compelling story, allowing potential tourists to connect with the destination on an emotional level.

2. Comprehensive Coverage

Video-based virtual tours can cover a wider range of attractions and experiences, providing potential tourists with a more comprehensive understanding of the destination. This helps tourist make more informed decisions about their travel plans, it generates ideas of what they can do, placing them in the destination in their head, which psychologically increases the likelihood of a visit.

3. Customisation and Interactivity

E X P L O R E includes interactive elements, such as clickable hotspots, which can provide additional information or direct users to relevant supporting websites or partners where tourists can make a booking.  These features allow tourist boards to tailor the virtual tour experience to the specific interests and needs of potential tourists, enhancing engagement and satisfaction.

As competition for tourists’ attention continues to grow, tourist boards must embrace new technologies and strategies to stay ahead.  Video-based virtual tours, such as E X P L O R E, offer an immersive, engaging, and comprehensive way to showcase a destination and its unique attractions. By investing in video-based virtual tours, tourist boards can not only differentiate themselves from competitors but also enhance the overall experience for potential visitors, ultimately boosting tourism and benefiting the local economy.

Unlocking the Potential of Real-Time Customer Insights with E X P L O R E for Hotels

In the competitive hospitality industry, understanding guest preferences and behaviours is crucial for success.
E X P L O R E virtual tours not only provide an immersive experience for potential guests but also deliver real-time customer insight data to hotels. In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of leveraging this data to better understand current and future guest behaviour, and how it can inform tactical and strategic sales and marketing activities.

Benefits of Real-Time Customer Insights for Hotels

1. Personalisation

Access to real-time data enables hotels to identify guests’ preferences and interests as they engage with virtual tours. This information enables hotel marketers to create personalised marketing campaigns and offers, resulting in higher conversion rates and guest satisfaction.

2. Improved Customer Segmentation

The data gathered from virtual tours helps hotels better understand their target audience's demographics, travel preferences, and behaviours. This knowledge allows for more effective customer segmentation, enabling targeted marketing efforts and better resource allocation.

3. Identifying Trends and Patterns

Real-time customer insights can reveal emerging trends and patterns in guest behaviour, allowing hotels to adapt their offerings and marketing strategies to align with evolving preferences.

4. Enhancing Guest Experience

The storytelling experience of a virtual tour is not limited to discovery and booking. Planners, delegates, and guests may make use of a virtual tour post-booking and whilst on site. By understanding guests’ needs and expectations, hotels can make data-driven decisions to improve their services and amenities, ensuring a memorable experience that encourages repeat visits and positive word-of-mouth.

5. Data-Driven Revenue Management

Real-time insights can inform revenue management strategies, enabling hotels to optimise pricing, promotions, and inventory management based on demand patterns and guest preferences.

6. Benchmarking and Competitor Analysis

Access to customer data allows hotels to measure their performance against industry benchmarks and assess how they compare to competitors, helping identify areas for improvement and differentiation.

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Traditionally, hotels have relied on historical customer data, which can be outdated by the time it is analysed and put into action. This lag in data availability can hinder hotels' ability to make timely decisions and respond to rapidly changing guest preferences and market conditions. Relying on data that is 3+ months old can result in missed opportunities and less effective sales and marketing strategies.

The advantage of using E X P L O R E virtual tours is that they provide real-time, forward-looking customer intent data. This enables hotels to immediately identify shifts in guest preferences and behaviour, allowing them to make data-driven decisions and adapt their strategies more quickly. Real-time insights empower hotels to stay ahead of the competition and remain agile in the ever-changing hospitality landscape. By leveraging up-to-date customer data, hotels can proactively address emerging trends, optimise marketing campaigns, and create personalised experiences that resonate with their target audience. In short, real-time customer intent data is invaluable for hotels seeking to stay competitive and enhance guest satisfaction in today’s dynamic market.

E X P L O R E Enters the Super Yacht Industry

A brand new initiative by the Super Yacht Builders Association, SYBAss, has been created to improve the industry. The Yacht Owners Representative Program or YORP has started to train existing and want to be yacht owner representatives in all aspects of the role.

YORP is a tailored 4-course program with specific learning outcomes, developed exclusively for SYBAss which will create a register of certified owner’s representatives. Accredited IAMI GUEST training providers, The Crew Academy and Luxury Hospitality Management, have joined forces to develop the 4-course program materials. 

virtuall and E X P L O R E has been chosen to be a training partner. We are teaching the students the reasons to visually record the build of a super yacht and how to do it well. Maintaining and operating a super yacht is a complex undertaking just like a luxury hotel. Understanding what services are behind the walls and interior fit-out will dramatically improve the operational efficiency and ability of the crew to respond to time sensitive situations.