Tourism Marketing in Virtual Worlds

Travel amp Tourism Marketing in Virtual Worlds

n todays global marketplace companies in the tourism and travel sectors make heavy use of online channels to

promote their destinations and venues Now with the advent of virtual worlds companies in this sector are starting to set-up virtual representations of real world places

This KZero case study explains the rationale for tourism marketing companies to enter the metaverse the marketing opportunities available examples of organisations and

co m p a n i e s a l re a d y inside profile analysis of the residents and why t h e s e p e o p l e a r e important

Travel and Tourism in Virtual Worlds A KZero Worldswide Case Study Copyright 2006 - 2009 Page 1

I

What is a virtual world

The World Wide Web as we know it today consists of static 2D pages You visit a website and readwatch the information or media presented on it Virtual worlds (metaverses) are different

They are digital 3D environments accessed in real-time that allow people to explore examine and interact with the objects created within the world and importantly they allow people to interact together in a shared collaborative space regardless of their geographical location

Second Life was the first glimpse into the future of the Internet a future of lsquoPlaces not Pagesrsquo However other virtual worlds such as There Kaneva Stardoll and many others are now available for marketers in this emerging space

Why are virtual worlds growing

The most popular commercial metaverse to date Second Life is a global application meaning that anyone can become a resident Initially North America drove take-up due largely to the fact that the company behind Second Life Linden Lab is based in San Francisco

However as the chart below left shows other regions and in particular Europe have embraced Second Life

In late 2006 Second Life resident numbers broke through the 1m mark helped by significant media coverage During 2007 resident numbers grew by 1m per month and now (Jul 2009) the total number of registered accounts is over 19m

However even greater growth has been observed in virtual worlds catered towards younger audiences Stardoll for example has over 34m accounts Barbie Girls over 10m and IMVU over 39m Appendix one shows the KZero universe graph an illustration of the size and range of virtual worlds available

Using Second Life as an example as explained in the following sections the unique characteristics of a typical resident has expedited the take-up and the range of different countries represented

Who is a typical resident

Second Life is not a gaming application There are no scores no lsquolivesrsquo to protect no objectives and no end-result

Comparison has been drawn to World of Warcraft an extremely popular MMOG (massive multiplayer online game) but the only real similarity is the fact that they are both virtual worlds

Importantly whereas the average age of a Warcraft player is 17 for Second Life the average age is 32 It is this fact which stimulated the interest in major brands to consider entering Second Life Below (next page) is the age range spread for residents


US37

Canada3

Europe37

Rest of World23

Also of note and further interest to brand owners is the fact that females account for 45 of users A surprising yet valuable piece of information So a combination of the average age and gender ratio has made brands realise that there are benefits to be reaped by developing metaverse marketing strategies

Further analysis of the demographic profile of residents reveals that these people reside heavily within the Innovator and Early Adopter groups

Pre-December 2006 Innovators were the main types inside Second Life but as explained by the Rogers Technology Adoption Curve Innovators act as a catalyst for Early Adopters Whereas Innovators are very keen to trial new technologies they have local social networks

The media landscape

Second Life aside marketers now have a wide range of options available to them And importantly traditional media planning techniques can now be used to select the most appropriate virtual world for the marketing objectives

Different worlds have widely different resident bases from a geographical perspective as well as different age ranges - as demonstrated by appendix one

The graph below shows the regional breakdown of fashion-themed world Stardoll

KZero has in-depth data and research available for a wide selection of virtual worlds and is best-placed to make media planning and virtual world selection decisions for marketers across the world

Hotels

The first entrant from the tourism and marketing sector into Second Life was Starwood Hotels and their Aloft brand

Aloft is a hotel brand aimed at business travelers and before a single brick was built in the real world a virtual version of the hotel was constructed in Second Life

Why build a hotel in Second Life After all avatars do not require sleep Well firstly creating the hotel in a virtual environment enabled Starwood Hotels to promote their new venture at a very low cost Shown below is a 3D model of a typical Aloft hotel created by the architects


US37

Canada4

Europe43

Rest of World16

To illustrate the design capabilities of Second Life the image below shows the actual Aloft hotel built in Second Life

From a PR perspective the Aloft project generated a significant amount of coverage across mainstream marketing media channels

Over and above the PR though the project had a tangible objective for Starwood Hotels By creating a virtual replica of the a real world hotel the company was able to obtain market research about the design and layouts

Avatars entering the hotel were monitored to understand the footfall and traffic flows through the different parts of the hotel

Feedback was also sought and obtained on a real time basis by Starwood employees being present in the hotel as avatars entered and explored The findings of this research was then aggregated and fed back to the marketing team managing the launch in the real world

So clearly there are benefits to be realised by hotel brands entering the virtual space Another company in this category following the lead set by Aloft was Rixos a Turkish-based chain of luxury hotels

Rixos also opted for the recreation option in Second Life There venue showcases a typical Rixos hotel allowing visitors to explore both internal and external areas in order to better understand the brand and design values

Another hotel brand Crown Plaza has also entered Second Life There strategy however was not to primarily present their hotels as a way of exploring them but instead to provide a service to businesses


Their concept lsquoThe Place to Meetrsquo allows businesses in Second Life to use areas on Crown Plaza Island for virtual meeting purposes mirroring a real-world use of their hotels

The island contains several different sized rooms and areas which Crown Plaza rents out on an hourly basis

To further support this initiative the rooms come complete with the ability to stream video audio and presentations directly into Second Life with the booking process managed by a dedicated website

Tourist boards and organisationsRecognising the ability to recreate real world places in virtual environments several tourist boards and organisations have taken steps into Second Life

Bearing in mind the global target audience in Second Life their higher than average disposable incomes and the fact that the internet is used heavily for marketing by these organisations anyway deploying metaverse initiatives in many ways supports other activities

Furthermore as many people use the internet to conduct research about places prior to visiting being able to visually present these venues provides valuable information

One organisation which has successfully deployed this strategy is the Galveston Island Convention and Visitor Bureau

Galveston is a small island located in South Texas and was the first destination to officially promote itself in Second Life

The virtual island is a replica of its real world counterpart and has many of the features actually found there such as the visitor centre (shown above) the East End historical district and the working harbour complete with the Tall Ship Elissa and the Opera House built in 1894

The Netherlands Tourist Board also has a presence in Second Life Their island features buildings and architecture taken from Amsterdam complete with canals windmills and bridges


This project is part of an integrated marketing campaign called lsquoNew Hollandrsquo supported by website activity and focussed on specific themes such as culture architecture and music

The launch of this virtual programme centred around culture and arts with a building on the island presenting works of art from famous Dutch painters They are also working hard to create a community of avatars interested in The Netherlands within Second Life

Another aspect of the decision-making process and pre visit stage is researching and gathering more official-type information such as visa requirements and other related paperwork

On this theme the Swedish Foreign Ministry recently (May 30) launched an official Second Life embassy

Swedish Institute (SI) director Olle Waumlstberg is quoted as saying

We are planning to establish a Swedish embassy in Second Life primarily as an information portal for

Sweden Second Life allows us to inform people about Sweden and broaden the opportunity for contact with

Sweden easily and cheaplyrdquo

The virtual embassy the Second House of Sweden provides cultural insight and information about the country In addition the venue will host a regular programme of Swedish-themed events designed to educate and engage potential visitors to the country

The Maldives also has a virtual embassy presence in Second Life Taken from their launch press release

The Maldives Virtual Embassy is quite simply a place in Second Life where visitors can come to find out about political social or economic developments in the Maldives where they can meet virtual Maldivian diplomats and ask questions on subjects such as visa requirements where they can access information about holidays in the Maldives and trade and investment opportunities where they can take a virtual tour around a real Maldives holiday resort ndash the Maldives Hilton ndash or where they can simply relax listen to Maldivian music and meet friends


Region replicationSecond Life is also being used to re-create specific regions and cities from around the world One project which was developed to provide a historical insight into an area is lsquoParis in the 1900rsquosrsquo

This island has re-built central areas of Paris based on the architectural and historical events of the time

Paris in the 1900rsquos includes the Moulin Rouge The Eiffel Tower the Champs Elyse Metrorsquos and many fashion and automobile-related items of the time

Another project using historical architecture as the driving them is Virtual Tuscany The tourism marketing organisation for Tuscany - Fondazione Sistema Toscana

As the European population of SL continues to grow more destinationsvenues are being launched The Virtual Tuscany island has many of the famous landmarks from Tuscany

Furthermore this tourist board is actively driving visitors to the island to become part of an online community Growing online communities is an excellent way of cultivating leads - people interested in a particular region Other regions in Italy that are currently developing Second Life venues include Venice Pisa Milan And Rome

Germany is also starting to embrace virtual tourism marketing A recently launched project involved the recreation of Augsberg in Bavaria as well as Munich which is shown below The city centre has been


carefully re-created based on accurate street maps and imagery

A similar approach was taken by Dublin One of the first real world citites modeled

in Second Life Virtual Dublin also plays host to marketing events and promotions some of which have been co-ordinated to coincide with real world events - a great way of widening the audience for marketing initiatives

Taken from a Tourism Ireland press release

Tourism Ireland will host the worldrsquos first virtual St Patrickrsquos Day parade on Sunday 16th March in the internet-based virtual world of Second Life The virtual parade will include 20 Irish and Celtic themed floats and will be the highlight of a three-day Discover Ireland Festival in Second Life sponsored by Tourism Ireland Second Life is one of the largest virtual worlds in existence with over 12 million registered users 3 million of whom are considered regular users Sixty per cent of Second Lifersquos users come from Irelandrsquos four biggest tourist markets Great Britain US Germany and France Half of those users are aged over 30 ndash a key demographic for tourism to the island of Ireland

As well as the first virtual St Patrickrsquos Day parade Tourism Ireland will organise a range of events and activities during the St Patrickrsquos festivities in Second Lifersquos replica city of Dublin Events will include a live broadcast of the largest ever contemporary Irish music expo ndash ldquoSnakes and Laddersrdquo ndash from the World Financial Center in New York a treasure hunt which will involve visitors exploring Dublin to find clues that will enable them to collect points and win prizes

Tourism Irelandrsquos objective is to encourage those who visit this virtual world to come and visit the real Ireland during 2008 ldquoDublinrdquo in Second Life is a well-established destination ndash frequently making the Top Ten list of the most popular places to visit there Tourism Ireland launched the first ever tourism marketing campaign in Second Life last October with a Discover Ireland music festival

Therersquos also a large area of central Barcelona re-created in Second Life Unintentionally but successfully this venue has become the first port of call for people from Spain when they enter Second Life

Landmark replication

On a smaller scale than re-creating an city (of parts of it) a highly effective and manageable strategy is the venue or attraction virtual tour


This option is ideal for marketers responsible for promoting specific attractions or requiring tactical campaigns in Second Life

Several world-famous places have already been created in Second Life for a variety of reasons Examples of leisuresporting based destinations working well include the Yankee Stadium in NYC and the Ajax FC Stadium in Holland

The Yankee Stadium project was driven by MLBcom (Major League Baseball) The virtual stadium modeled exactly on the real world one re-creates famous baseball matches and allows visitors to watch and even interact with the players

Adding to the realism MLBcom released virtual tickets to the residents in Second Life

The Ajax FC project includes the virtual stadium and streaming video of Ajax matches via in-world screens

This feature is designed to extend their global fan-base and allow fans from across the world to watch matches together in a collaborative environment

Other famous landmarks created in Second Life are shown below


Tactical marketingThe regional development agency for the North West of England (NWDA) decided to integrated a virtual marketing element to their campaign promoting Manchester as a lsquoDigital Cityrsquo

The project itself was promoted long before the virtual island was available (not such a good idea) and six months after the press releases the island opened to tie-in with an awards ceremony - Big Chips taking place in Manchester

The awards event was simulcast into Second Life whilst taking place in the real world at the same time

On a slightly different theme this time related to travel marketing a great example of using Second Life on a tactical basis is a recent campaign by Costa Cruises

This company re-created their latest luxury liner the Costa Serena in Second Life to coincide with the real world launch in France

The virtual effort allows visitors to explore the ship and get a feel for what it would be like to cruise on it from anywhere in the world

Also taking a tactical approach the Mexican Tourist Board (Visit Mexico) launched in June 2007 a Second Life island promoting Chichen Itza an ancient archeological site


The venue has been nominated as part of the Seven Wonders of the World competition and virtual world activity has been integrated into real world activities

This type of initiative highlights the clear benefits of using virtual worlds for marketing Visitors to the Chichen Itza island can explore the features and related landmarks at first hand without having to physically be there

Travel Marketing

Itrsquos not just venue or destination lsquoownersrsquo that can augment virtual worlds into their marketing plans Travel marketing companies can also benefit An example of this is STA Travel

As a provider of travel services primarily into the student and young adult sectors they were keen to create a presence in Second Life to communicate their products and also work hard to develop communities of interested residents

Community building is being facilitated by in-world events An example of this is the lsquoSunday Travel Seriesrsquo These are STA hosted seminars discussing various

aspects of travel Further functionality includes the ability to buy real-life flights on the STA island

German-based travel company TUI has also moved into Second Life The company (known in the UK as Thomson) has several leisure-themed islands

Their approach is one of brand extension In the real world they take people on holiday - transportation to destinations where people relax and have fun

This essence has been recreated on TUI island where avatars can meet up sail virtual boats and participate in activities such as cliff diving and treasure hunts

Related sector services

Europ Assistance a European provider of automobile travel health and home insurance entered Second Life in mid 2007 and is offering residents protection against accidental teleport accidents

Their press release statesAs the worldrsquos leading provider of modern assistance services the Europ Assistance Group has once again demonstrated the pioneering spirit one would expect of this inventor of medical repatriation and travel assistance services this time by launching the first ever assistance policy for virtual journeys in Second Lifereg on June 29 2007

Available from the Europ Assistance island this virtual assistance policy symbolised by a belt and an aura


surrounding the protected avatars can be taken out free of charge by any avatars keen to avoid becoming victims of teleportation accidents which are today increasingly numerous according to a rumour currently circulating in the Second Lifereg world This rumour spread by means of a video filmed in the Second Lifereg world humorously portrays a series of imagined accidents befalling avatars during their journeys through Second Lifereg (teleportation)

True to its goal of making life easier for its clients in both day-to-day and special situations this ldquovirtualrdquo assistance service in Second Lifereg (the first of its kind to be offered by an assistance company) is accompanied by a software-based training programme to help ldquonewbiesrdquo adjust to the Second Lifereg virtual world and to show them how to get around to meet people to chat or to change their appearance etc

Alternatives to Second Life

2008 saw new entrants into the virtual world space with propositions closely tailored to traveltourism marketing companies

The first such virtual world is called lsquoAmazing Worldsrsquo - the self titled lsquoWorldrsquos 1st 3D Tourism Mirror Worldrsquo

A mirror world is based purely on places in the real word as opposed to virtual worlds which also have

the functionality of creating fictional venuesTaken from an Amazing Worlds press release

lsquoAmazing Worlds is a 3D online Mirror world which depicts interesting places of the world we help local tourism venues and authorities build lifelike 3D mirror images of the locations which consumers from all over the world could access via the internet Amazing Worlds employs the latest in MMO technology to provide high quality graphics with easy end user interface for a enriching experiencersquo

Amazing Worlds in currently in beta trials planning to fully launch late 2009

Multiverse is another alternative virtual worlds platform This application allows companies to create standalone virtual worlds which could for example be hosted on a company website Here is how the company describes Multiverse

Multiverses unique technology platform will change the economics of virtual world development by empowering independent game developers to create high-quality Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) and non-game virtual worlds for less money and in less time than ever before Multiverse solves the prohibitive challenges of game creation by providing developers with a comprehensive pre-coded client-server infrastructure and tools a wide range of free content--including a complete game for modification--and a built-in market of consumers The Multiverse Network will give video game players a


single program--the Multiverse Client--that lets them play all of the MMOGs and visit all of the non-game virtual worlds built on the Multiverse platform

The first demo world created by Multiverse is Times Square New York Here are some screenshots

There are several other mirror worlds in developmentrecently launched included Twinity and Near

The benefits of virtual tourism marketing

bull Affluent audience Second Life residents are typically Early Adopters These are tech-savvy opinion-formers with high disposable incomes

bull Global reach Although currently very popular in North America and Europe Second Life is now growing strongly in the Middle and Far East This pattern is expected to continue in new virtual

worlds

bull Engagement Virtual worlds such as Second Life facilitate the ability to involve and engage people in a shared environment This means that visitors can be educated about the attributes of a region town or attraction

bull Interaction Virtual destinations can be brought to

life in virtual worlds with the inclusion of video audio and many other interactive features

bull Measurability Activity in virtual worlds can be highly tracked and measured This includes visitor numbers interaction metrics and referral sources

bull Community building If done correctly virtual world marketing activity can be used to develop and grow online communities These become valuable sources for business development

bull Integration Virtual world platforms can be integrated into other forms of marketing thus creating a new type of synergy


What is a virtual world

The World Wide Web as we know it today consists of static 2D pages You visit a website and readwatch the information or media presented on it Virtual worlds (metaverses) are different

They are digital 3D environments accessed in real-time that allow people to explore examine and interact with the objects created within the world and importantly they allow people to interact together in a shared collaborative space regardless of their geographical location

Second Life was the first glimpse into the future of the Internet a future of lsquoPlaces not Pagesrsquo However other virtual worlds such as There Kaneva Stardoll and many others are now available for marketers in this emerging space

Why are virtual worlds growing

The most popular commercial metaverse to date Second Life is a global application meaning that anyone can become a resident Initially North America drove take-up due largely to the fact that the company behind Second Life Linden Lab is based in San Francisco

However as the chart below left shows other regions and in particular Europe have embraced Second Life

In late 2006 Second Life resident numbers broke through the 1m mark helped by significant media coverage During 2007 resident numbers grew by 1m per month and now (Jul 2009) the total number of registered accounts is over 19m

However even greater growth has been observed in virtual worlds catered towards younger audiences Stardoll for example has over 34m accounts Barbie Girls over 10m and IMVU over 39m Appendix one shows the KZero universe graph an illustration of the size and range of virtual worlds available

Using Second Life as an example as explained in the following sections the unique characteristics of a typical resident has expedited the take-up and the range of different countries represented

Who is a typical resident

Second Life is not a gaming application There are no scores no lsquolivesrsquo to protect no objectives and no end-result

Comparison has been drawn to World of Warcraft an extremely popular MMOG (massive multiplayer online game) but the only real similarity is the fact that they are both virtual worlds

Importantly whereas the average age of a Warcraft player is 17 for Second Life the average age is 32 It is this fact which stimulated the interest in major brands to consider entering Second Life Below (next page) is the age range spread for residents


US37

Canada3

Europe37

Rest of World23




The media landscape





Hotels





US37

Canada4

Europe43

Rest of World16






































































Travel Marketing































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The media landscape





Hotels





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Canada4

Europe43

Rest of World16






































































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Travel Marketing































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Business

Tourism Marketing in Virtual Worlds