The Official VRteam Blog

VRteam's Hotel Media Viewable on Almost Any Device - Desktops, Laptops, Tablets and Mobile!

2012-02-10T01:27:00.000-05:00

The word is out. Hotel virtual tours, videos, and photos are being heavily sought after by online travel shoppers via mobile devices. As a result, our clients asked for an update, and we delivered. All of VRteam's new media is viewable on Android devices, iPods, iPads, iPhones, desktop PCs, Macs, and tablets/similar devices, such as the Kindle Fire. We are rigorously testing new viewing platforms, such as Smart TVs, to ensure widespread viewability. Unfortunately, some of the SmartTV manufacturers have been very slow to update their built-in web browsers, which have extremely limited features. Stay tuned and we will have more to share about this topic soon.

Rich Media Distribution — Distribute Your Hotel Photos, Virtual Tours, And Videos To A World Of Travel Shoppers

2012-02-07T11:05:00.000-05:00

Rich Media Distribution — Distribute Your Hotel Photos, Virtual Tours, And Videos To A World Of Travel Shoppers

Hotel Photographers

2012-02-04T10:21:00.000-05:00

VRteam has recently launched a new website designed to provide information to hotels and resorts looking to hire hotel photographers. The new website is HotelPhotographers.com. Fitting name, isn't it? The website describes the importance of hotel photography to a property's overall marketing success. It also provides a simple way to contact VRteam for more information about hotel photography services, best practices, pricing options, and preparation before a photo shoot. Hoteliers, so what are you waiting for, visit HotelPhotographers.com today to check it out.

VRteam Announces Rich Media Distribution Services

2009-04-07T18:46:00.000-04:00

VRteam, an industry leader in producing 360-degree virtual tours, photo slide shows, and digital still photos for the lodging industry, has recently added rich media distribution to its product list.

VRteam, an industry leader in producing 360-degree virtual tours, photo slide shows, and digital still photos for the lodging industry, has recently added rich media distribution to its product list. This new service allows a hotel to distribute their virtual tours and rich media to over 30,000 travel websites, including popular travel booking websites, travel agencies, travel research websites, search engines, travel portals, corporate booking engines, meeting planner websites, and global distribution systems. This new service offering maximizes the online exposure of a property, giving potential lodging guests around the world an inside look at where they will stay before they actually book reservations. Hotel sales & marketing managers know how important it is to get this media in front of people when they are actually making their travel plans. According to a recent study, consumers who view rich media on a property's website are 67% more likely to book than similar consumers who did not view the rich media. Rich media distribution accomplishes alot, as it is a powerful tool with broad reach, allows for centralized management of digital assets across multiple online channels, and keeps all of the visual content consistent across all of 3rd party websites.

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VRteam specializes in 360° Virtual Tours, Digital Still Photos, and Photo Slide Shows. The company offers affordable content licensing and customized delivery formats for various online media channels. Visit VRteam online at http://www.vrteam.com.

VRteam Launches New Rich Media Program for Wingate by Wyndham Bradenton, Florida

2009-04-07T18:45:00.001-04:00

VRteam, a high-quality virtual tour and photography provider for the hotel industry, recently produced and launched a full rich media package for the brand-new Wingate Inn by Wyndham located in Bradenton, Florida near Lakewood Ranch.

Located directly off of I-75 at exit #217 State Road 70 East, the Wingate by Wyndham Bradenton, Florida is nestled in the new Creekwood East Corporate Park and is close to everything you need. VRteam photographed the hotel and produced virtual tours of 10 different areas throughout the property. Potential guests can now visit http://www.WingateBradenton.com to get spectacular 360-degree virtual tour views of the reception & breakfast areas, the outdoor heated pool & spa, the Manatee Room (large meeting room), the Pelican Room (smaller meeting room), and all 6 of their spacious hotel rooms. These include the Standard King Room, the King Parlor Suite with Wet Bar and Pull-Out Couch, the Standard Double Queen-Bedded Room, the King Deluxe Suite with Wet Bar, the King Deluxe Suite, and the King Parlor Suite with Den. The rich media package also allows users to view an interactive photo slide show, clickable still photo matrix, and maps/directions to the property. The Wingate Inn by Wyndham Bradenton is located at 5464 Lena Road, Bradenton, Florida 34211 and can be reached by calling (941) 755-0055 or visiting http://www.WingateBradenton.com.

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VRteam specializes in 360° Hotel Virtual Tours, Digital Still Photos, and Photo Slide Shows. We offer affordable content licensing and customized delivery formats for various online media channels. Visit VRteam online at http://www.vrteam.com.

VRteam Produces Virtual Tours, Photo Slide Show, and Still Photos for Crystal Palms Beach Resort

2009-04-07T18:44:00.001-04:00

VRteam, a high-quality virtual tour and photography provider for the hotel industry, recently produced a full rich media package for Crystal Palms Beach Resort, the newest boutique hotel located at Treasure Island on the West coast of sunny Florida.

VRteam produced a full rich media package for Crystal Palms Beach Resort, including 360-degree panoramic virtual tours, an interactive Flash-enabled photo slide show, and an easy-to-navigate still photo matrix. VRteam's Rich Media Viewer includes all of these great features in one easy interface, as well as interactive mapping to the property. Potential guests to Crystal Palms Beach Resort are in for a real treat when booking this property, because they can actually get a full in-depth immersive look at the property before making their reservations. In fact, Google Analytics website visitor statistics show that from January 1st, 2009 - March 1st, 2009, over 25,000 potential guests have viewed VRteam-produced rich media for Crystal Palms Beach Resort. According to the hotel's sales & marketing director, "Our property has seen an enormous return on investment from VRteam's rich media services, and guest satisfaction with the virtual tours is extremely high. We opted for a larger custom package that has 14 virtual tours and 52 photos, and it's paid off." Crystal Palms Beach Resort is a 36-unit hotel equipped to serve the business or leisure traveler with all of the comforts of home. All of their 36 luxurious suites feature full kitchens with granite countertops, 42 inch flat screen high definition TV's in the living room, and private balconies facing Treasure Island Beach and the Gulf of Mexico. Crystal Palms Beach Resort is located at 11605 Gulf Boulevard, Treasure Island, Florida 33706. They can be contacted toll-free by calling (888) 360-0037, or you can visit them online at http://www.CrystalPalmsBeachResort.com. Be sure to check out the virtual tours!

ABOUT VRTEAM: VRteam specializes in professional virtual tours & photography packages for hotels and resorts looking to maximize their online visual impact. VRteam's Rich Media Viewer includes 360° Virtual Tours, Digital Still Photos, and a Photo Slide Show, as well as interactive mapping. VRteam offers affordable content licensing and customized delivery formats for various online media channels. Visit them online at http://www.vrteam.com or call (813) 217-5781.

VRteam Unveils Its New Rich Media Viewer

2008-08-25T16:26:00.000-04:00

VRteam, a best-in-class hotel media production company, has unveiled its new web-based Rich Media Viewer for use by its top-brand hotel & resort clients. The Rich Media Viewer showcases a hotel's finest visual assets, displaying high-quality hotel virtual tours, photo slideshows, and digital still photos produced by VRteam's professional photographers and multimedia team. The Rich Media Viewer incorporates all three of VRteam's media types into one easy-to-navigate web interface for use by potential hotel guests. Virtual tours are displayed in either JAVA or QuickTime formats. Still photos are displayed as JPEG thumbnails and they open into a larger JPEG when clicked. The Photo Slidehow is delivered using Flash technology. VRteam's Rich Media Viewer is extremely simple to integrate into any existing website, and every client receives unlimited support in doing so. The Rich Media Viewer is hosted on VRteam's world-class dedicated image servers, ultimately providing hotels & resorts the most reliable and consistent content delivery. For more information please contact VRteam at (813)217-5781 or support@vrteam.com.

The Importance of Rich Media For the Hotel & Resort Industry in 2008

2008-08-22T21:32:00.000-04:00

If you are a hotel industry professional then you probably know the importance of Internet marketing in regards to achieving sales goals and high online conversion rates. There are many pieces to this puzzle, but the purpose of this article is to focus on one very important piece that is often overlooked by hotel general managers, management companies, and sales managers alike. That piece of the puzzle is online rich media for hotels.

Online rich media can mean many different things to hoteliers and to potential guests. Rich media can be a 360 degree interactive hotel virtual tour. It can be a web-based streaming video that is able to be shared with others. It can be an interactive Flash presentation or application. It can also be an interactive photo slide show. Rich media can be downloaded to a user's computer, presented on a CD or DVD, and/or distributed and viewed via the Internet. The main point here is that rich media engages people and puts them in control of the content that they are viewing.

In the hotel industry, rich media allows potential guests to immerse themselves in a property prior to actually booking a reservation. It allows people to educate themselves and make informed decisions before actually pulling out their credit cards to book a stay at a hotel or resort. Needless to say, the rich media that is produced for a property must accurately reflect what the property actually has to offer. How many times have you gone online to book a hotel room and were presented with outdated photos and virtual tours that paint a horrible picture of the property, only to find out later that the property has recently been fully remodeled with new bedding, flat screen televisions, landscaping and other amenities? That property is cutting themselves short and losing business. Or even worse, have you ever been presented with generalized media that does not accurately reflect the actual property that you are booking a room with. You arrive for check-in and are astonished by the poor condition of the hotel and the room you are about to stay in! The importance of rich media in a hotel's overall marketing plan cannot be stressed enough. Keeping this media current is very important.

According to recent industry statistics, over half of all Internet users have taken virtual tours and the numbers are increasing daily. Millions of people view hotel virtual tours, online hotel videos, hotel photo slideshows, and hotel photos online each and every single day! At the end of 2007, approximately 300 million people were surfing the Internet over a broadband connection, opening up an extremely large audience that can experience rich media without waiting a long time for content to download. Hoteliers must realize the value of rich media content and the influence it has on its potential guests' decision making. Hoteliers need to provide high quality content to the ever-increasing population of broadband Internet users in order to compete in the current marketplace.

Inflation, war, high fuel costs, and airlines that nickel-and-dime their passengers are all working against the hospitality industry. According to the Travel Industry Association, "The July Travel Price Index, TPI, rose 9.4 percent compared to July 2007. Gasoline prices increased 0.7 percent from June and jumped 38.3 percent from one year ago. Lodging prices were down 0.2 percent compared to July 2007 and increased 3.1 percent from last month. Airfares increased 19.9 percent against twelve months earlier and rose 2.1 percent from previous month. The Consumer Price Index, or CPI-U, was up 5.6 percent from July 2007."

People are just not travelling as much as they used to. Family vacations are being reduced from multi-week trips across the country to simple one day visits to the local parks and attractions. Times are tough, and so is the competition in the hotel business! Simply stated... the hotels and resorts that invest in high-quality virtual tours, photography and other rich media will have the competitive edge over properties that do not. They will see higher conversion rates and will retain more repeat visitors. They will build loyalty and trust with their guests by providing accurate visual content that helps them make more informed decisions.