The Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board (VFTCB) is inviting both meeting planners, and consumers, to get to know Montco from all angles before they visit.
The private, nonprofit organization recently announced Montco 360 – an immersive virtual tour platform that takes people inside some of the area’s best hotels, event venues, attractions, and more.
The user-friendly tool embeds the tours on the tourism board’s website to easily navigate the destination from anywhere in the world. Digital visitors can simply click on the property they want to see to virtually step inside for a 360-degree view, as though they’re there in person.
Plus, an interactive mapping feature also allows folks to see even more details of what else is nearby. So far, the VFTCB has filmed at more than 30 locations from hotels, to the King of Prussia Mall, Arnold’s Family Fun Center in Oaks, and XL Sports in Hatfield.
“We’re so excited to be able to elevate awareness of Valley Forge and Montgomery County, PA by virtually walking our clients through properties, and continuing to connect them with venues, and amenities, that they want and need to make decisions,” said Scott Higgins, Associate Director of Sales and Business Development for the VFTCB. “This will help event planners, and leisure guests alike, discover a facility’s environment, and all that Montco has to offer – at their own pace.
With 80 world-class hotels (many pet-friendly), more than a dozen historic sites – including Valley Forge National Historical Park – some of the best shopping in the country (from the iconic King of Prussia Mall to quaint main streets), 1,600 eclectic restaurants, 100 miles of trails, 200 arts and cultures venues, more than 30 award-winning Montco Makers (breweries, wineries, and distilleries), and 50 historic and top-ranked golf courses, there is so much for both event attendees and consumers to see and do in Montgomery County.
That’s why after an extensive review prior to COVID-19, the VFTCB partnered with Threshold 360 – one of the world’s largest providers of interactive virtual tours – on the project. The company specializes in working with destination marketing organizations, and has coverage of more than 100,000 locations, and two million views daily.
In fact, Threshold 360 boasts that their platform doubles a chance that people will book, and has proven to increase overall online bookings and engagement for customers by upwards of 20%. Some of their other tourism board and convention bureau clients include: Visit Austin, Visit Tucson, San Francisco Travel Association, Visit Raleigh, Visit Tampa Bay, and Visit Dallas.
Once complete, the Montco 360 program will create an impressive list of almost 100 attractions, hotels, venues, and sports fields. The images are being shared on social media, and directly to each location’s Google business page, and Google images, where they already have more than 200,000 views.
Moving forward, the VFTCB’s sales team will also be able to use the technology to visually walk a client through properties they’re considering, or virtually show a meeting space while attending a conference.
“It truly will allow planners to see it today, and live it tomorrow,” Higgins said.
The Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board (VFTCB) is a nonprofit, membership-based sales and marketing organization that actively promotes Valley Forge and Montgomery County, PA as a convention site and leisure visitor destination by encouraging patronage of its 500+ member hotels, restaurants, attractions, and services. The award-winning website links visitors, meeting planners, tour operators, and residents to a diverse portfolio of brands focused on reasons to visit the region.
