Google’s virtual tour of Abbey Road studios in London shows that richly interactive tours are possible from the armchair but Andrew Hennigan wonders whether the technology can ever generate revenue

Sitting comfortably in front of your computer or just curled up on a sofa with a tablet you can enjoy a virtual tour of Abbey Road studios in London, guided by producer Giles Martin – son of Beatles producer George Martin. You can also walk through the ruins of Pompei in Italy. Or if you prefer outdoor activities you can dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia or even climb the 3,000 ft vertical rock face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

All these tours are provided by Google using the technology they use for StreetView, which allows people to explore the streets of virtually any town in the world. It’s also possible to explore some buildings through the Business View programme designed to bring in more customers.

Many destination marketers now offer some kind of virtual visit, even if it is just a panoramic photo of a beach taken early in the morning before the crowds arrive. Tourism & Events Queensland, for example, have an iPad app, the Queensland Explorer Holiday Planner, which includes panoramic photo visits to key locations. With today’s technology anyone can share this kind of experience online using little more than a smartphone and some patience - How Mobile is Making Pano Technology Mainstream, EyeforTravel, November 20, 2013.

However, all these are designed purely for promotion. Destination marketers want you to be on their beaches, museums but hope to attract new visitors as a result. Abbey Road reinforces the brand, and restaurants bring in more diners.

In theory the same technology could be used to organise for-profit virtual tours, generating revenue from people who might never come for a real-life visit. This is not happening yet for several reasons. First of all the technology isn’t quite mature enough yet. Google’s Streetview is impressive but still far from the real experience. But in addition, it’s hard to sell virtual tours because most are giving them away free – especially Google. That undermines the business case.

Looking ahead, however, there are opportunities where a real-life visit is either impossible or possibly less useful.

Limited access: There are some sites where visits are strictly limited because of space limitations or to protect delicate art works. Off limit to most people, these sites could only be visited virtually so there is no competition with actual visitors. Other locations like Abbey Road studio are not normally open to the public because they are used for business and some buildings are private homes that are rarely if ever open to the public. There are also some locations that are not going to last much longer like soon to be dismantled film sets or buildings to be demolished.

Enhanced visits: In other cases a virtual tour could incorporate other elements that enrich the experience, including photos, videos and commentaries. These virtual tours cross the line between a pure visit and entertainment. The appeal of enhanced tours is that people who have already been to a location might still be interested in the virtual tour and vice-versa.

Virtual worlds: One area where competition with real-life tourism is non-existent is virtual worlds. Second Life, the 3D virtual world where you can meet other people, has shown that it is possible to manage interactive visits by many people to a non-existent location. Their user-generated world is now so rich and complex that some ‘residents’ earn real money as tourist guides for new users. Companies owning the rights to nonexistent worlds like the Star Wars universe, but creative teams could also create interesting experiences of their own. An interesting example is one by Visit Finland and Rovio Entertainment – the company that developed Angry Birds. The two organisations recently joined forces on an innovative destination marketing initiative.

Virtual tourism today doesn’t really impact the business except as a promotional tool, but as new generations become more comfortable with virtual reality there will be new options to exploit it in different ways and could bring new opportunities for additional revenue.