Visit Belfast has launched a new and innovative £200,000
marketing campaign utilising 360º virtual reality technology which is
expected to influence 40,000 bed nights and generate £3.4m to the local
economy. The “Belfast Go Explore” campaign features a free mobile app
which takes users on an immersive tour around the city’s top
attractions, including Titanic Belfast, Crumlin Road Gaol, St George’s
Market and Belfast’s City Hall, from the perspective of a visitor. Visit
Belfast is one of the first in the tourism sector to adopt such new and
innovative technology, incorporating hot-spots, live-action footage and
computer-generated graphics.
The campaign has been delivered
thanks to funding support from the GREAT UK Challenge Fund which aims to
exploit market opportunities that will create jobs and drive economic
growth. Visit Belfast is one of a number of successful applicants to
benefit from the £2m GREAT UKCF, part of the UK Government’s GREAT
Britain Campaign.
The campaign is targeting the youth market in
the direct access cities of Paris and Barcelona, aiming to position the
city as a culturally diverse, new and exciting place to visit and study.
As well as the app, the campaign features two videos – one in French
and one in Spanish – and will be supported by extensive digital and
social media marketing.
In the app and videos, which can be viewed at visitbelfast.com/explore as well as ireland.com/explorebelfast,
viewers will join young French and Spanish people who are living in
Belfast, on a tour of “their Belfast”, immersing the viewer in the
sights, history and nightlife of the city from their perspective.
The
free app offers users a unique tour around Belfast and is best viewed
through the Belfast virtual reality viewer. The viewer, inspired by
Google Cardboard, has been made available in the target markets.
Northern
Ireland Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Jonathan Bell
MLA, supported the launch of the campaign, saying “Belfast contributes
around 50 percent of Northern Ireland’s tourism economy – a sector which
has seen significant growth and is expected to generate £1 billion
annually by 2020. Northern Ireland is a hotspot for technological
innovation and it is great to see Visit Belfast and the tourism industry
leading the way with the adoption of new technology that makes the city
stand out in overseas markets.”
Gerry Lennon, Chief Executive of
Visit Belfast, said “Belfast is a young and vibrant city and this
project will enable us to reach a young audience in Paris and Barcelona
through peer-endorsed experiences. The use of innovative, new and
exciting media brings a virtual Belfast direct to our overseas audiences
and in this way we hope to inspire visits to our city.”
Niall
Gibbons, Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland added “Tourism Ireland is
delighted to work closely with our partners Visit Belfast on the roll
out of this innovative campaign in two key European markets. Visitors to
Northern Ireland from France and Spain grew by 14 percent from January
to September last year and this new campaign will undoubtedly help us to
build further on that growth in 2016 and the years ahead.”
The Belfast Go Explore app is available from the App Store and Google
Play Store. It is compatible with a number of different smartphones but
we recommend Samsung Galaxy S5, S6, S7 and Alpha or iPhone 5 and 6 for
the best user experience. The app is viewable with or without a Google
Cardboard or other virtual reality viewer.
You can find out more about the campaign by clicking here.
Pictured: Tourism Minister Jonathan Bell MLA, Gerry Lennon, Chief Executive of Visit Belfast and Howard Hastings, Chair of Visit Belfast, test drive the new Belfast Go Explore app and virtual reality viewer with Elodie Flenniau from Lille and Marta Mestre-Sevilla from Valencia , who feature in the Belfast: Go Explore campaign.