Jurys Inn, the 36-strong hotel chain with properties located across the UK, Ireland and the Czech Republic, is just one of a multitude of venue owners reaping the benefits of new virtual venue tour technology, offered as part of an enhanced listing on venuefinder.com.
Launched in September 2017, through a partnership with Universal360, the virtual reality tours use Matterport 4K scanning technology.
Each tour features a series of linked scenes, a 3D model, interactive floorpans and the ability to share. They open with a fly-through of the venue or hotel, before allowing users to navigate themselves around the meeting and events spaces.
Jurys Inn Liverpool was one of the first properties to adopt the virtual tour, in order to showcase its 100-capacity events space and 10 meeting rooms.
Matthew Powell, Sales Executive at Jurys Inn Liverpool says: “Our Matterport tour has proved invaluable. We use it at exhibitionsusing a VR headset, we use it on show-rounds to demonstrate different layouts, we use it for proposals, we use it to demonstrate event logistics. It can be used for so many different purposes.
“Not only is it an incredibly handy tool to have at our disposal, it also gives us an edge over the competition and allows us to cut costs for clients who are based further afield, since they can place themselves in our meetings space from the comfort of their office. The fact that we have gone that step further and immersed ourselves in this 21st century technology is proving to be an incredibly powerful business asset.”
The success of Jurys Inn Liverpool’s virtual tour has seen other Jurys Inn properties follow suit. The most recent Jurys Inn to sign-up and get its own Matterport tour is East Midlands Airport.
Jurys Inn East Midlands Airport has recently invested £3.5million in its facilities and offers 11 newly refurbished meeting and events rooms, with a capacity for up to 250 delegates theatre-style in its largest space.
Senior Meetings and Events Sales Coordinator, Jenny Godfrey says: “I’m really impressed with our tour and can’t wait to start showing it off to clients. It’ll be a great way to show prospective clients around the refurbished facilities in a high-quality and seamless manner, which is perfect if they’re unable to come for a site inspection.”
In the six months since venuefinder.com launched the virtual Matterport tours, Universal360’s CEO Paul Shersby and his team have been busy travelling the length and breadth of the country filming and creating the tours for a raft of different venues.
“We’ve had everyone from the London Stadium to Middle Temple, The Guildhall Northampton and Sadler's Wells to Double Tree by Hilton Islington,” Shersby says. “Venues love the fact that it’s a truly immersive 3D walkthrough experience, which increases customer engagement with the events spaces and ultimately accelerates the booking process.”
Anneli Lort, spokeswoman for The Honourable Society of The Middle Temple, says: “It’s vital for our customers to make an emotional connection with Middle Temple. For us, being able to offer a memorable experience that brings our venue to life is incredibly important for making bookings in a very competitive marketplace. Now, when customers are searching for the perfect venue for a wedding, party, corporate event or private dining, they can take a fluid, fully immersive, step-by-step walk-through of Middle Temple. It has given us an efficient, cost-effective and modern way to showcase our offerings in detail.”
If you’d like to upgrade your listing on venuefinder.com by adding a Matterport virtual tour, please contact Vicki Peerless or one of the team.
Article by Mike Fletcher