0403 023 223 info@virtualize.com.au

As a result of all the COVID Lockdowns and Restrictions, the last12 months or so have presented new challenges for Local, Regional and City Councils to promote and provide access to the variety of facilities and services they have available to residents and visitors.

Virtual Tours are increasingly being used by Councils and local government authorities to more effectively showcase the locations, facilities, events and services that they have on offer.

Virtual Tours offer a range of benefits that are simply not available via traditional marketing techniques such as Photos or Videos – such as :

  • Interaction – rather than passively watching a video.. or simply clicking through a gallery of static photos… a Virtual Tour allows users to be actively involved and control how they interact with council facilities and spaces… This could be navigating through the space, looking around, zooming in on specific objects, or clicking on hotspots to perform an action such as showing a video, linking to a website, filling in a form, or displaying more information
  • Innovation – a Virtual Tour provides a memorable “wow” factor that most photos or videos can not
  • Connectivity & Accessibility – Provide a spatial awareness which is not possible with most other forms of marketing. Virtual Tours can be used by anyone with internet access via a variety of devices (mobile, desktop, VR Headset)…
  • Experiential  & Interactive – Offer an “experience” based interface, where users get to Interact and actually participate. This provides a level of emotional attachment not available through traditional media (photos and video)
  • Dynamic – you are able to show the same space setup for different types of activities – e.g. Party, Private Function, Live Band, Dance Hall….
  • Inspirational – Offer a “taste” of the experience and provide insights into what is on offer, which very often results in an “I want to see more” moment.
  • Recycle – Virtual Tours are able to incorporate and reference existing content (information, Photos, Video, Stories, Links, Audio, etc…) .
  • Extendable – can very easily be updated, modified and improved to update or add extra activities and experiences over time as requirements change

The Tabs below provide examples of different Virtual Tour projects for various Councils in South East Queensland :

Virtual Tours offer a great way to showcase Special projects and activities… making it much easier for residents to “explore”, “experience”, interact and provide feedback on planned council activities and projects

Many Local Councils have Community Halls, buildings or community spaces that are available for hire by local residents, for a variety of community and private activities – from hobby or charity based activities through to birthday parties and wedding receptions.

It takes a significant amount of resources to manage these spaces, often with quite a lot of time and expense involved with marketing and managing bookings – particularly when potential hirers wish to “inspect” the spaces prior to bookings.

A Virtual Tour is a fantastic way to showcase the capabilities of a particular venue and specific spaces within each venue – and can save significant time, effort and costs associated with visual inspections prior to booking.

Community Hall Virtual Tours can be published direct to Google (as a Google StreetView Virtual Tour)and then embedded into the booking page/s on your website – or sent to potential hirers by email as a link.


More sophisticated Standalone Virtual Tours which offer many more features and capabilities, could also be used for a more sophisticated approach to marketing and booking your local community spaces.

Parks, Playgrounds, and Sporting Fields are significant assets for Local Councils… and provide fantastic amenity for local residents and visitors, but incur significant maintenance and management costs – and are often under-utilised.

One of the main issues with the use of community spaces likes parks is promoting what services and facilities are actually available. Residents who live in the immediate vicinity are often aware and make use of these spaces, but those living in the wider community and visitors to the area are often oblivious to the great facilities that are often available.

Google Virtual Tours can be created and are accessible direct from Google Maps…(or can be embedded into a local council website), and Standalone Virtual Tours offer a range of more sophisticated features such as Branding/Menu Navigation/Popup Information Hotspots and External Links.

See Full Screen View Here : bccparks.panoview.com.au

360° photos (particularly aerial 360°photos) are very effective at showing off parks and playgrounds and where they are located in relation to the neighbourhood and other community facilities.

Whether it is a one-off Special Occasion, an Annual Event, or a recurring local activity, Virtual Tours can provide a unique and innovative way to promote Special Events.

By providing potential visitors with an insight into what is on offer, a virtual tour can not only make the event accessible to a much wider audience, but encourage more people to attend physically.

Because of the unique nature of special events, a Standalone Virtual Tour is probably the best option, because they provide greater control and flexibility.

See Full Screen View Here : curiocity.panoview.com.au

As well as offering facilities and services for local residents, attracting visitors (as well as new businesses and residents) is a key role of any council.

Promoting tourism to the various local attractions is therefore a VERY important function of councils.

Virtual Tours are a fantastic way to showcase the various attractions and facilities a region has to offer to tourists and visitors as well as local residents.

See Full Screen View Here : esplanade.panoview.com.au

See Full Screen View Here : naturalbridge.panoview.com.au

Using a Virtual Tour to showcase a particular Suburb, Region or Area, provides an interactive visual tool, which gives great spatial awareness (so users can see which activities/facilities are where in relation to locations they may be familiar with) but also, (because they are “in control” of the experience) forms a much higher emotional attachment than is possible with traditional marketing tools such as photos or videos.

See Full Screen View Here : carinaheights.panoview.com.au

What Does it Cost ?

Costs will vary depending on the location, the size and layout of the area/s you want covered, and the features/functionality that you’d like to include… Prices start from as little as $100 for a single 360° panosphere up to thousands of dollars for large sophisticated standalone virtual tours.

We would typically be able to provide a ballpark figure once we have spoken to you, but may need to undertake a site visit to provide you with a formal quote.

Find Out More…

If you’d like to discuss how we can help you to incorporate 360° Photos, Video or Virtual Tours into a Marketing Campaign to promote our facilities, please give Andy a call on0403 023 223orContact Us.