Marketing Review - Spring 2008 - (Page 11)

A variety of major tourism organizations have also created virtual presences on Second Life. The Mexican Tourist Board recently sponsored the creation of a realistic replica of one of that nation’s most popular archaeological sites, Chichen Itza. Tourism Ireland chose to sponsor concerts and other events within an already existing virtual venue resembling the city of Dublin. The Fondazione Sistema Toscana, the official tourism organization for Tuscany, Italy, established a presence in SL that includes replicas of famous landmarks including the Tower of Pisa and the Duomo of Florence, a city square for virtual meetings, and a store from which real life Tuscan products can be purchased. The Netherlands Tourism Board and Swedish Embassy (including a tourism presence) are also represented in SL. Costa Cruises and Rixos Hotels are two companies that are using Second Life for training. Costa Cruises uses a virtual replica of its ship, the Costa Serena, to educate travel agents about the ship. Travel agents, in the form of their virtual SL avatars, can tour the ship together facilitating education and the sharing of information. Turkey-based Rixos Hotels also uses its SL presence for training. Individuals who are the most successful at their jobs in the virtual world hotel may later be hired as real world employees. The almost anything goes environment of Second Life means that it may not be an ideal marketing platform for all travel marketers. However, there is no disputing that Second Life has stimulated new and creative thinking about how companies and organizations can interact with consumers within a 3D virtual world. The experiences gained here are likely to provide valuable insights for marketing within a variety of future Webbased 3D environments. SOCIAL MEDIA IN 3D Social media, in many different formats, are increasingly significant to travel marketing. New technologies are now promising to deliver richer social media experiences over increasingly engaging three-dimensional interfaces. SPRING 2008 • HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW Active Worlds, a creator of virtual worlds on the Web, recently released a new software program “Active Worlds 3D Avatar and World Explorer” that permits the creation of virtual worlds on the Facebook platform. The new application aims at making the technology of virtual worlds more accessible over the general Web environment. Facebook is not only gaining new 3D capabilities, it is becoming both 3D and mobile. One recent technology that is making this possible is SceneCaster. SceneCaster promises to make it possible to deliver the 3D Web to any type of Web-enabled device including mobile phones. Users can create virtual rooms and share them with their friends. The company has plans to extend its product to other social media sites including MySpace, Hi5, Bebo, and others. 3D MAPS, MODELS AND MORE Map features are incorporated into nearly all websites within the hospitality, travel and tourism sectors. Because they combine powerful search features with sophisticated and diverse mapping capabilities, online maps are among the most popular features used by travelers on the Web. Map mashups permit organizations to develop customized map approaches that add both interest and value for travelers on the Web. While 2D maps are useful in many circumstances, 3D maps display information in more interesting and engaging ways. Recent 3D mapping initiatives undertaken by Google and Microsoft are aimed at providing an enhanced presentation of geo-spatial information. These initiatives are certain to remain an important factor in the ongoing evolution of the 3D Web. Marketers should pay close attention to potential future uses of Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth 3D maps to create 3D map mashups in the same manner that mashups of 2D maps are created today. Such a development would open up new creative possibilities to use maps for a variety of marketing related functions. In addition to 3D maps, new 3D Select 3D Web Resources VIRTUAL WORLDS Active Worlds ACTIVEWORLDS.COM Habbo HABBO.COM Entropia Universe ENTROPIAUNIVERSE.COM Habbo HABBO.COM Second Life SECONDLIFE.COM There THERE.COM Whyville WHYVILLE.NET 3D MAPS & MAP RELATED FEATURES 3D Warehouse SKETCHUP.GOOGLE.COM/3DWAREHOUSE 3Dvia 3DVIA.COM Google Earth EARTH.GOOGLE.COM Google SketchUp GOOGLE.COM/SKETCHUP Microsoft Virtual Earth MAPS.LIVE.COM 3D & SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook FACEBOOK.COM SceneCaster SCENECASTER.COM 3D SEARCH Ergo YOURERGO.COM 11 http://ACTIVEWORLDS.COM http://HABBO.COM http://ENTROPIAUNIVERSE.COM http://HABBO.COM http://SECONDLIFE.COM http://THERE.COM http://WHYVILLE.NET http://SKETCHUP.GOOGLE.COM/3DWAREHOUSE http://3DVIA.COM http://EARTH.GOOGLE.COM http://GOOGLE.COM/SKETCHUP http://MAPS.LIVE.COM http://FACEBOOK.COM http://SCENECASTER.COM http://YOURERGO.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marketing Review - Spring 2008

HSMAI Marketing Review - Spring 2008 Contents COLUMN: The Online Marketer COLUMN: Success Stories COLUMN: Guest Column Ten Trends Now Shaping the Future of Hospitality Turning the 2008 Consumer Tax Rebates into Hospitality and Travel Sales 25 Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality and Travel Sales and Marketing The Lure of Lore: Connecting with Customers Through a Unique Brand Story A Careful Balancing Act A Meaningful Relationship: How Technology Affects the Connection Between Hospitality Marketers and Meeting Planners SPECIAL SECTION: The 2007 HSMAI Adrian Awards Building Five Star Imagery

Marketing Review - Spring 2008

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