Google Street View: How high-tech visual images can drive tourism

MANILA, Philippines - The high-tech visual images are made possible by a roving SUV packed with cameras, lasers, and a GPS device on top collecting images in the country’s popular locations.

In places that cannot be accessed by car, tricycle, trolley or motorcycle, people wearing 40-pound backpacks roam around collecting images from narrow spaces accessible only by foot. 

Ryan Morales, head of consumer marketing, Google Southeast Asia, and country marketing manager, Google Philippines, says Google Maps has always been about exploration, but it is now much more comprehensive. It provides more than just navigation.

“They can help you discover places around the world. They can show you what it feels like to cruise a canal in Venice or explore Tokyo through high-tech immersive imagery,” he says.

At the launch of Google Street View in the Philippines, Morales was seen in a video walking along the historic Intramuros district in Manila with the Street View Trekker. You need a good, strong back to carry that backpack, he says.

Launched in 2007 in the US, Street View has since expanded its 360-degree panoramic views to include locations on all seven continents. Its debut in the Philippines was welcomed by the tourism sector, saying it could increase awareness of – and interest in – our popular tourist attractions.

“Because the images are rich and immersive, they help people find information on and see from a street-level vantage point how the places they would like to visit actually look like,” Morales says, adding that for Filipinos who live abroad, the use cases can be expanded to include revisiting the places they grew up in. “They can view the church they were baptized or married at. It allows us to revisit our fondest memories.”

The Google executive, however, says Street View only features imagery from public property, it’s not real time and the company uses state-of-the-art face-blurring technology to protect people’s identities.

“We respect people’s wishes if they do not want imagery in their communities,” he says.

Tourism potential

 Domingo Ramon Enerio III, chief operating officer, Tourism Promotion Board, sees another potential benefit of the Google Street View.

“Tourism has become a major ‘feel-good’ industry for the country and a major economic contributor. As of June 2015, the country has received 2.6 million foreign visitors and by the end of this year, we expect to reach for the very first time the five-million mark. We expect about 5.2 million tourists,” he says.

Of the 4.8 million foreign visitors who visited the country, the country earned $6 billion in tourism receipts, making it the third largest export industry in the country (following export of  Filipino labor and the IT-business process outsourcing industry).

“There are also about 44 million domestic travelers because of the advent of the Filipino millennial traveler. Through their use of technology, we can now see places we’ve never heard of before,” he says.

Even businesses in tourist spots could also take advantage of Street View as it allows people to discover their exact location and what they have to offer.

At the official launch of Street View, boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao showcased his hometown on the giant screen, allowing people to see where he grew up, where he sold pan de sal as a kid, where his farm now is located in Sarangani, and the first place in Manila he had a picture of – the Rizal Monument.

Ken Lingan, country manager, Google Philippines, says Street View is now available in 40 cities and 30 metropolitan areas, but it is a continuing project as Google and its community of mappers would keep on adding images not just of geographies, but also of festivals.

Members of the tourism boards, non-profits organizations and universities, among others, can also work with Google to help collect images of remote and unique places.