Attracting new guests is an ongoing hurdle for most hotels. Where a clean and polished web site, as well as an engaging social media presence were once powerful tools to help your brand get notoriety, now these features are expected.
But with each advance in technology comes a new opportunity to display your hotel in a new, eye-catching way. One of these new trends that’s gaining buzz is Hotel Virtual Tours. Through virtual reality (VR) tools, potential guests can now visit hotels online in the most immersive way possible.
But if you’re not yet familiar with the concept quite just yet, a Hotel Virtual Tour and its many benefits might not be that apparent to you. Here’s what you need to know about Hotel Virtual Tours, and how they can be used as an extremely powerful marketing tool for your hotels.
What Is A Hotel Virtual Tour?
A Hotel Virtual Tour goes beyond simple two-dimensional real estate photography. Using specialized 360 Virtual Tour cameras and software, Hotel Virtual Tour Photographers can capture 360-degree images of a space, giving the viewer a uniquely immersive experience.
In addition, Hotel Virtual Tours can be viewed with VR headsets such as Oculus Rift, allowing the user to shift perspective with a move of his or her head. A headset isn’t a requirement, however – simplified hotel virtual tours can be taken through your web browser.
The Benefits Of A Hotel Virtual Tour
Hotel Virtual Tours offer a number of benefits beyond traditional marketing methods, including the following:
- Saving your Guests’ Time. While this also holds true for individual guests, a time saver is attractive to corporate guests or convention organizers, who can view everything you have to offer before booking a trip.
- Reaching a Larger Audience. Studies have shown that 65 percent of all travel bookings are researched online. As potential guests are using your digital presence to determine if your hotel is the correct pick for their stay, adding eye-catching content to your online platform is crucial to getting your message across.
- Distinguishing Property. While mobile apps and social media platforms have become the norm, Hotel Virtual Tours have yet to become widespread. Offering potential guests something new and exciting works to make hotels stand out from the crowd. According to the Pew Internet Life Study, a site with a 360-degree virtual tour and interactive media will receive 40 percent more views than a competitor’s site that is lacking media.
- Keeping Users On Site Longer. Internet traffic isn’t just about clicks–the amount of time a guest spends on a site is also essential. Content that holds people’s attention makes a brand more likely to stick in their memory when they make their final choice.
Increase Booking and ROI (Return On Investment) With Hotel Virtual Tours
To use a real-world example, Radisson has maintained statistics on how virtual tours have impacted their bottom line, showing:
- Hotels with a virtual tour achieved 135 percent increase in online revenue compared to those without
- ROI per hotel equaled less than four weeks
- Average views per month: 2,000
- Conversion rate: 4 percent (only including bookings made through the virtual tour page, not including those viewing the tour and then booking via telephone)
A Hotel Virtual Tour can be a powerful addition to hotelier’s marketing toolbox, providing a way to distinguish their brand from the competition.
And as guests continue to make more and more of their buying choices online, supplying them with valuable, visual content might make their choice easier.
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