The COVID-19 pandemic has created a significant obstruction for travelers and people who travel for a living. With international borders shut down and flights grounded, travel has taken a backseat, and the travel industry faced the hard blow. In times of uncertainty about the pandemic and the future, it seems restricted travel would be a way of life for a while!
Even amidst the chaos and uncertainty, specific ways enable a person to travel virtually and enjoy the sights of their favourite destination. With newer technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality tools, people can travel to places they long to visit. Though there is nothing that can replace the experience of physical travel experience, digital tours, and virtual travel have different zing. Here we bring to you five ways to travel digitally and experience the virtual journey.
Live Webcams:
Live webcams are another way to travel the world virtually from your living room. Whether it is the Stanley Park in Vancouver or the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge of China, live webcams give a wonderful travel experience. The live cam views give the same excitement that you would get on visiting these places in person. You can experience the sights, and sounds of the places live as what is happening there at that exact moment. This is surely a thrilling moment to experience with a glass of Remy martin xo in your hand at home!
Virtual Tours:
Popular tourist places like the art museum Louvre in Paris or the Universal Studios are giving virtual tours for travellers to enjoy. These video tours are available on their websites and can be accessed anywhere and anytime. The virtual tours highlight the significance of a place and have narrations that guide the traveller through the places. Many exotic hotels from across the world also give virtual tours. You can enjoy a 360 tour of the beach resorts of the Maldives or the luxury hotel in Dubai right from your living room.
Google Features:
Features like Google Arts & Culture, Google’s Heritage and Google Art Project have teamed up with historical and tourist hotspots to give a real-life travel experience to the travellers. These tools use 3D imaging, AI and other advanced tech tools to give a beautiful view of the tourist places. In times of COVID pandemic where people hardly can move out of their homes, the Google tools are widely used to travel across the world virtually and experience the beauty of tourist hotspots. The Google Art & Culture tool also enables a person to experience online exhibitions and shows from museums and galleries across the world. The Google Street View tool gives a complete street tour experience of the world. You can walk along the Hollywood thoroughfare or look out at the yachts from a beach in Nashville.
Webinars/ Zoom sessions:
Another way of virtual travel is to discuss past travel experiences with fellow mates. With online communication tools like Zoom and webinars, travel lovers can connect with fellow travel companions and discuss their earlier travel pursuits. They can also talk about what travel experience they look forward to once the world returns to its normal situation. Additionally, they can also share photographs and mementoes of their past travels to get motivated for the future. A discussion on the future of travel is a great way to imbibe hope and positivity on people’s minds about the travel industry.
TV Shows:
Many travel shows on television will give you the feel of virtual travel. Travel shows are a popular way of getting accustomed to a place and to get the required information before setting out for the physical journey. The best travel shows explore and disseminate information about different cultures, traditions, cuisines and places from around the world. You can catch the latest travel shows featuring on the television to learn about new cultures, people and places.
Virtual travel is the thing of the hour, with COVID-19 restricting any means of international travel. Visit any place in the world in your favourite airline with the five best ways. Don’t forget to jot down your bucket list of destinations for the physical travel post-pandemic as you travel virtually!
