Virtual reality is only the stuff of science fiction, right? Wrong. 360-degree VR is here today, and proves to be one of the most engaging and effective selling tools on the web. More than just a photograph, a 360VR image is an opportunity to experience an environment almost as if you’re there.

But 360VR isn't simply a fun online distraction. According to recent studies, hotels and resorts that offer online virtual tours experience significant increases in bookings. If what you’re promoting involves place, space or experience, 360VR can be one of your most powerful selling tools.

Tour de Force creates tours of the highest quality -- full screen and in glorious, high-resolution color. So take a few moments to explore some of the 360VR experiences here, including the comparison between still images and a 360VR tour. Then call us to learn what 360VR can do for you.

360VR tours have been proven to significantly increase the bottom line for many businesses. For example, hotels that use virtual tours see an average 16% increase in bookings, with a four-week return on investment. It really can be the most cost effective marketing investment a business makes.

You see, every day more and more consumers come to rely on the web. They may be enticed by print, TV or radio ads, but they are increasingly turning to the Internet for the information they need to make actual spending decisions. Savvy businesses leverage this trend to their advantage.

The web’s most powerful feature is interactivity, and the 360VR image is, by its very nature, a highly interactive medium. In fact, when we add special features, it can become even more interactive. That means 360VR can be an extremely powerful selling tool for any application that involves place, space, context or experience. Check the Industry Focus section for a variety of applications that are particularly well suited to 360VR.

Still images say, "Look at this(and only this)." No doubt, a photograph can be very powerful in print or on the web. It can make a bold statement, set a mood or illustrate a point. But the crop is the essence of the still image, dictating what the viewer can see and eliminating everything else.

Video says, “Look at this (and this and this and this and…).” Video is particularly good at telling a story, demonstrating an activity or rapidly changing between scenes. But, like the still image, video dictates what the viewer will see.

360VR images say, "Experience this." While stills and videos control the viewer experience, 360VR gives control to the viewer. It’s active, not passive, so it engages viewers on a totally unique level. What’s more, instead of cropping or limiting the view, 360VR allows the viewer to look at everything in all directions. It virtually places the viewer into a location. So, it carries an extra degree of credibility. The viewer can see what a place is really like. Therefore, any time you’re selling an experience, especially involving a place or space, 360VR should be an important part of your marketing toolbox.

The internet is critical to the hospitality industry's bottom line.

In 2009, more than 55% of all travel bookings and up to 40% of all hotel bookings in North America were generated from the Internet. That’s double the 2008 numbers. At least another third of hotel bookings will be directly influenced by online research, but booked offline. (eMarketer, HeBS)

The web is particularly important to resorts and travel attractions. 88% of vacationers conduct travel planning online, and visit an average of three to four websites before making a reservation. (The Travel Industry Association and American Express, PhoCusWright)

Research shows that 360VR tours drive bookings.

A 2007 study for Omni Hotels found that online visitors who were offered 360VR tours were 67% more likely to book a room online. And the richer the media (adding video, music, voiceover, animation, etc.) the higher the conversion rates, more than doubling “look to book” ratios. Bottom line, research indicates that 360VR tours results in 16% more bookings overall. (TIG Global)

That’s because 360VR tours engage your website visitors in the experience of your place. And a high quality, high resolution Tour de Force is the most engaging 360VR tour available today. A common return on investment for a Tour de Force is roughly four weeks. After that it’s pure profit. Try getting that kind of return on any other investment.

Let meeting planners experience your facility before they even visit.

Anybody in group sales knows that your chance of booking a convention or another large event will grow exponentially if the decision maker visits your facility. Most meeting planners would never book a convention of any significance without understanding the facility’s total experience. And pictures, floor plans, statistics and promotional videos just don’t cut it.

But a high quality, online Tour de Force does. It allows planners to experience your facility online, in the comfort of their own offices, without having to incur travel costs. They can understand the space in ways that just aren't possible with still images, because they see all of it in context, from the inside. And because the planner can look in all directions on a 360VR tour, he or she can see that your facility has nothing to hide. That reinforces your credibility.

Research indicates that 360VR tours can increase sales.

Given the fact that 360VR is a leading edge technology, little market research has been done on it so far. But one key study in the hotel industry shows that 360VR tours result in 16% more bookings overall. (TIG Global) By all indications, the same growth opportunity exists for the group sales and meeting category.

A Tour de Force offers high-resolution, full screen quality that showcases a facility in the detail and splendor it deserves. And virtual tours are easy, quick and less expensive than site visits. So expect growing numbers of planners to rely on them in the months and years ahead.

360VR is the green, effective and very cool companion to in-person campus visits.

As a school recruitment tool, the campus visit is simply invaluable. But with rising travel costs and uncertain economic conditions, there can be a limit to how many campuses a prospective student can physically visit. Therefore, it’s essential to get onto the student’s short list.

That’s why it’s important to offer an online Tour de Force. Prospective students anywhere in the world can “pre-tour” your campus from their own personal computers. Once they get to know it and become engaged with it, more often than not they will want to visit it in person.

In some ways, it’s even better than an in-person visit.

Of course, we can’t forget “the cool factor.” 360VR is at the leading edge of online technology. Any school that offers a high-resolution, high-quality, highly navigable Tour de Force will automatically gain bonus points with today’s Internet savvy students.

Plus, the entire experience can be enhanced by adding a recorded tour guide voiceover or an online chat with a live tour guide who leads the Tour de Force and answers questions along the way. In some ways, a Tour de Force can be even better than an in-person tour. In-person you experience the campus in one season, time of day and only the facilities open at that moment. On a Tour de Force you could experience all season, times and places in one tour! And you can go place the in-person campus tours can't.

Let clients explore your spaces from their own computers.

Nobody designs an interior space only to be seen from one end. A room, by its very nature, is to be experienced from inside, where every turn of the head brings a different view. But until now, the primary tool for showing building design has been the two dimensional image. Multiple images can show different parts of an interior space, but can never really represent the space as it was meant to be experienced.

With 360VR, none of this is a problem. Online visitors can experience a space as intended, from the inside, almost as if they’re there. They can understand the space in ways that just aren't possible with still images, because they see all of it in context.

Get unprecedented 360VR quality and functionality.

Until now, online virtual tours have lacked the quality, size and resolution necessary to properly showcase fine interior design and craftsmanship. Tour de Force changes all that. Our high-resolution full screen tours by award-winning photographer Scott Witte show off your work with the detail and splendor it deserves.

Add an interactive floor plan with a “field of view” indicator so visitors know exactly where they are during a virtual tour. Add zoom or motion transitions to better convey the sense of moving from one room to another. Now your clients are about as close to being there as possible – without actually being there.

A 360VR factory tour is a powerful sales and marketing tool.

For many companies, a facility tour is an important part of closing a sale. 360VR offers a way to virtually take your facility to your customers, inexpensively and instantly. Whether it substitutes for an actual facility tour or it just helps put you onto a customer’s short list, a Tour de Force will improve your company’s bottom line.

A Tour de Force can also be a useful tool for a company that manufactures a consumer product with a “how it’s made” mystique. A brewery, a motorcycle manufacturer or musical instrument producer, for instance. With a high quality, high resolution Tour de Force on your company’s web site, you can extend your mystique to consumers the world over.

Get all of the benefit with none of the risk.

Take your customers and the public onto your factory floor, into your design center, through your processing line and behind the scenes – but with no insurance risk, no worry that a line is down, no risk of revealing proprietary secrets and without disturbing workflow. A Tour de Force makes it possible for anyone to experience your facility up close and personal, 24/7, no matter where in the world they are.

Often facility brochures or videos are used for this purpose, but they’re no substitute for actually being there. A Tour de Force, on the other hand, comes as close to being there as you can get. Integrate it with stills and video where appropriate. Add a voiceover tour guide and soundtrack. Now you have the best of all media, and far more impact than any one of them.

360VR lends credibility to your destination, because it’s like actually being there.

Consider that 88% of vacationers conduct travel planning online (The Travel Industry Association and American Express, 2008). If an attraction’s website gives a more enticing taste of what it is like to be there, to experience the place, to know it from the inside, it will attract more customers. Adding a Tour de Force will do just that.

360VR tours won’t fully replace in-person visits any time soon. But if the experience of being there is part of an attraction’s “attraction” 360VR is best at conveying that, far better than still photos or promotional videos. And the experience can be enhanced even further by adding voiceovers, soundtracks, motion transitions and other rich media features.

Use it to increase traffic or raise revenues directly.

Occasionally we hear worries that a Tour de Force is so good, viewers may no longer feel the need to visit in person. But a tour can be specifically designed to give simply a taste, to whet the appetite for more. For the right type of attraction, a high quality, high resolution Tour de Force will only increase interest and traffic.

What’s more, your Tour de Force itself can raise revenues. You can charge a small admission fee for the virtual tour, you can place ads on the tour page and you can attract an underwriter to whom you give prominent credit for sponsoring the tour.

Take your historic or cultural site directly to the public with 360VR.

How many people would love to visit the Tower of London, the White House or the Vatican, but can’t? Perhaps they can’t afford to travel. Maybe a handicap limits their ability to experience a site. Or important areas are inaccessible for safety reasons. What good does it do to preserve a site if the public can’t experience it? But now they can, with the help of a high quality, high resolution Tour de Force.

360VR tours won’t fully replace in-person visits any time soon. But if the experience of being there is part of an attraction’s “attraction” a Tour de Force is the next best thing by far. Online visitors can experience your site from the inside, up close and personal, almost as if they’re there. They can view and explore it in ways that just aren't possible with still images or video.

Use it to increase traffic or raise revenues directly.

Consider that 88% of vacationers conduct travel planning online (The Travel Industry Association and American Express, 2008). If an destination’s website gives a more enticing taste of what it is like to be there, to experience the place, it will attract more in-person visitors. Adding an interactive, easily navigable Tour de Force will do just that.

What’s more, your Tour de Force can help raise revenues. You can charge a small admission fee for the virtual tour, you can place ads on the tour page and you can attract an underwriter to whom you give prominent credit for sponsoring the tour.