September 9, 2010, The Woodlands, Texas - The Woodlands Villager newspaper featured an article in the September 9, 2010 of the business section announcing the funding of a virtual tour of The Woodlands created by the epic software group. The text of the article appears below. Click on the image to see the actual article.
The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau is working to attract businesses and visitors with technology, offering a virtual tour.
By mid September, Epic Software Group of The Woodlands will have a virtual tour of 20 locations in place for the CVB website at www.thewoodlandscvb.com.
The site enables visitors to get a 360-degree look at a location or event as if they were there, said Nick Wolda, president of the CVB.
The virtual tour provides a visual for meeting planners, tour operators, travel agents and event producers.
The site will include social media tools and promote festivals like International Winter on the Waterway, Red, Hot and Blue Festival and Oktoberfest to help out-of-town visitors plan a stay.
“We are trying to tell the story that The Woodlands is a great place to visit,” Wolda said. “To hold a convention group or have a business meeting, a wedding, reunion or sports tournament. We know people are coming to The Woodlands for all of these reasons.”
The $20,000 cooperative project was funded in part by the CVB, which put $10,000 toward the project. Others include Market Street, The Woodlands Mall, The Woodlands Development Company, The Woodlands Resort and Conference Center and The Woodlands Marriott Hotel and Convention Center.
“We anticipate it will be seen by hundreds, if not thousands or millions,” Wolda said. “This will further the appeal of the CVB, seeing it come alive with the new type of photography.”
Vic Cherubini, president of Epic Software, said the interactive tour utilizes overlapping images “stitched together using special software.”
“When the panoramic image is placed online, the viewer can move in any direction and zoom to the photo to see additional details,” said Cherubini, adding links to other websites, video, sound and other types of media be a part of the tour.
