Submission

Online Virtual Reality Tours of Jordan

The jordan360.com website offers 360 degree virtual reality tours (images & videos) of sites, hotels, attractions, and event deals in Jordan

Craig Saltzer
Ibrahim Osta
Amjad Sawalha
Evon Warwar

Team Leader
Chief of Party
Marketing Component Leader
Grants Manager

csaltzer@chemonics.com
iosta@chemonics.com
asawalha@siyaha.org
ewarwar@siyaha.org

Middle East

Jordan Building Economic Sustainability through Tourism (BEST)

Economic Growth and Trade

Jordan’s travel agents and tour operators around the world currently have limited quality content to show and entice tourists to book a trip to Jordan. Meanwhile competing destinations are utilizing increasingly more effective content to market to potential clients that is more engaging than conventional picture and video content. Jordan has an opportunity to create and utilize stronger content and stand out via online destination searches as well as at international tradeshows and events to attract more customers each year.

Through shared use of this innovative content, BEST is helping Jordan multiply the reach and impact of individual marketing efforts led by key industry partners and yielding increased demand as a whole by positioning Jordan as an attractive, stable, and high value destination.

A powerful new marketing tool has recently emerged that shows considerable promise in terms of its ability to attract interest and convert sales in the tourism industry – virtual reality (VR). VR provides potential clients something new and compelling that they can interact and engage with and even share on social media channels. The content consists of fully interactive and immersive 360 degree virtual photos, 360 video content, and virtual tours that offer prospective travelers an unparalleled view of the most iconic locations around Jordan. Using this tool, Jordanians can communicate experiences in ways that were never before possible; encouraging prospective clients to make the critical step from interest to purchase.

Since its launch online visitors now have an enhanced browsing experience of Jordan’s tourism offerings. Furthermore, this launch has played a role in catalyzing the demand for and utilization of these new marketing products among the Jordanian tourism trade.

Virtual Reality

Jordan

Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality

10/2015-11/2016

Recognizing the potential of VR, a Jordanian company called MEA 3D Photography, has taken the initiative to pioneer 360 content development for Jordan. Through a 7-month long private undertaking that started in October 2015, MEA 3D Photography secured the rights to buy a web domain called Jordan360.com, and created five 360 degree videos and eleven 360 virtual tours as a pilot for the website launch. Subsequently MEA 3D Photography aims to add more than 500 virtual tours over the course of the next three years.

MEA 3D Photography has acquired all necessary servers, domain licenses, technologies, and web development support services to launch the Jordan360.com website. MEA 3D Photography is responsible for all website maintenance & website hosting of this content as well as all search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).

The Jordan360.com website will be the first in the world that will include over 200 top locations in Jordan in 360 degree interactive panoramas, 360 motion virtual reality videos, as well as link people with the top hotels, restaurants, companies, deals, weather forecast, and live Jordanian radio channels in one online destination. Accordingly, JTB plans to work with BEST to identify compelling content that MEA 3D Photography can develop and promote through this website that will support select sites and products that BEST is developing through its various grant activities. BEST procured this initial content on behalf of JTB, and any content paid for by BEST/JTB is freely accessible to all tourism stakeholders and counterparts. MEA 3D Photography have agreed to produce one new 360 video and one new virtual tour. This content will be made available on the Jordan 360 web domain, as well as other platforms as those partners and see fit.

Beyond Jordan BEST, MEA 3D Photography entered into a partnership with the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB), to support promotional activities surrounding the launch of the Jordan360.com website. While there we no challenges with the technology implementation per se, it took considerable efforts to build consensus around content specifications, including developing a detailed list of required amendments to existing 360 content (ie. music, resolution, etc) per the specifications of USAID/BEST and JTB.

This technology can be replicated to enhance other projects. In fact, there are now several several types of affordable cameras that can produce 360 images and videos. Additionally, social media platforms, including Google Street View, Facebook 360, and others that can support VR content to effectively utilize and share the content to its full marketing potential.

http://www.jordan360.com/