Note from the Editor: We’ve had multiple stories in past issues about tour operators using VR to take people back in time and our first story is about a German operator doing just that. It’s called TimeRide and offers tours in 4 cities. Its’ founder is quoted as saying “ we want to make history that people can feel” which is such a cool mission statement. And the author of this article really muses on the incredible value that VR can deliver and that history books cannot.
Deborah Reinow, Executive Editor |
VR: more than just gaming
How virtual reality can help us feel & understand forgotten horrors sfchronicle.com |
I was more than a little startled when Konrad Adenauer approached me in the Old Market. Sure, I was visiting Cologne, Germany, Adenauer’s hometown. But I had never imagined I’d lay eyes on the German republic’s first post-war chancellor — much less get a wave from him. Not least because he died six years before I was born. But I had traveled back to 1926, when Adenauer was Cologne’s mayor, courtesy of TimeRide, a virtual reality tour. |
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A new perspective from the ashes of Notre-Dam
How virtual reality is creating new opportunities for French tourism connexionfrance.com |
Tourist sites are adopting innovative technologies to let people experience them even when visiting is physically impossible. It means, for example, that visitors to Paris can admire Notre-Dame Cathedral, which is not due to reopen to the public until December 2024, thanks to virtual reality The Eternal Notre-Dame experience allows you to explore the cathedral over a span of more than 800 years, from the beginning of construction in the 12th century to the fire in 2019 and its future reopening. |
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Silly but probably very effective!
Rhode Island encourages tourism with a giant AR-enabled stuffed clam adweek.com |
To encourage tourism, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation is taking a large sculpture of a stuffed clam (also called a “stuffie”) to airports in key flight markets across the U.S. through the end of 2023. |
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DMOs: check out what your European colleagues are doing
2024 European Capital of Smart Tourism competition smart-tourism-capital.cc |
The below cities and destinations have been shortlisted for the 2024 European Capital of Smart Tourism and European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism competitions. |
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Goodbye stories about the metaverse (for now). Hello AI!
AI unleashed: empowering travel advisors for business growth travelmarketreport.com |
One of the most anticipated sessions at the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies & Travel Advisors (ACTA) summit was the Artificial Intelligence (AI) session with a timely focus on how Travel advisors can leverage and grow their business using new tools. |
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Deborah Reinow, Executive Editor . Maria Polk, President & CEO maria@VRTourismNews.com
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