Virtual Tour

With more than 40’000 users won since June 2020, a successful subscription model launch and growing revenues, Klapty is on the fast track. The Fribourg startup cofounded by Raynald Salah and Corentin Saez offers an online platform that allows everyone to create and share virtual tours. article here from Startupticker.ch & Eugène Schön => https://www.startupticker.ch/en/news/klapty-storms-the-virtual-tour-market    

How is the Real Estate Market Changing? The COVID-19 pandemic has given the property market a significant jolt and will continue to do so for quite some time. However, this is in no way just doom and gloom as it also opens new possibilities to use technology to help sellers in presenting their properties in the best possible light and buyers to filter out the houses they like more before making an in-person visit. The housing market is also changing and most big economies are predicting that price will maybe shrink in 2020. This requires even greater marketing skills and tools to be used to attract the right kind of buyers whilst navigating the ubiquitous uncertainty that’s surrounding us with governments updating instructions on safety and social distancing all the time.   Why a Virtual Open House is a Great Idea?   Even before the lockdown situation came about, hosting virtual open houses and lifestreaming to a big potential audience was gaining momentum for quite some time. It has a number of benefits for all involved - saves time and money and in the current situation it is the safest option. Additionally there are also other pros to go virtual : Real estate agents - cover a much bigger area geographically and appeal to a much greater audience by using contacts, social media and wider connection networks. In addition the recording of the virtual open house then becomes a valuable piece of digital content which the agent can publish on social media for it to be shared and for the potential audiences to engage with. Lead generation also increases during and after a virtual open house and if you are familiar with how to maximize its potential it can drive a lot of secondary interest in other properties in your portfolio. Buyers - more than 95% of buyers start first to search online for their next house. Virtual tours and open houses offer an additional opportunity to find out more about the property you’re interested in than just a few ordinary photos do. You can have most of the benefits of a face-to-face open house and even if you miss the life-event, you can always watch the 360 tours afterwards.   What is a ‘Virtual Open House’?   By now you’re probably wondering, what is a virtual open house? Well, it can take many shapes and forms, depending on the technology used and on the experience of the estate agent who is running it. Simply put, a virtual open house is a combination between a screenshare of a 360 tour + Cam with voice called " Video Conferencing ". You can use a variety of "virtual meeting" tools depending on what you’re comfortable with or have access to.   Tips and Tricks to Create the Perfect Virtual Open House   #1 Shoot your property in 360 degrees and create a virtual tour in Klapty.com It’s possible to do a 360 virtual tour with just your smartphone, however if you can afford an upgrade and invest in a good 360 camera or hire a 360 professional photographer, you will raise the quality of the production and set yourself apart from your competitors. This will give you a much better opportunity to capture the right angle and show the best features of the property in their best light, literally and figuratively speaking. Now that you have the property in 360° you just need to upload on klapty.com your 360 panoramas in order to create your virtual tour.   #2 What Software to Use? There are many options available to share live 360 VR  tours on the market so you need to choose depending on your preference, previous experience and equipment. If you want to use video conferencing then the choice is huge. You can go for Skype, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Webex and share it on Facebook Live or Persicope. There’s plenty of information you can find out about each one of these so here we want to focus briefly on how you can leverage the options that Zoom gives you!   Zoom This is the solution that we think works best for virtual open houses as other you can share your screen with a good quality for your final user or your audience. It’s a very popular and user-friendly tool that gives you all the functionalities you need to organize and schedule meetings. You can share the link via email, instant messaging or publish it to any of your social media pages. Screen sharing is a piece of cake with Zoom and you also have a great chat function for participants to post their comments and questions. As a meeting organizer you can mute participants and unmute them when they ‘raise their hands’ so you avoid  background noise or people speaking all at the same time.   Zoom offers a free option, which sets a limit of 40 minutes and up to 100 attendees, which should cover most cases. It’s best if you login via a desktop device or laptop as you’ll be able to see the chat and all other functions in the best possible way. However, participants can join via the mobile app too.   Whatever software solution you decide to go for, our advice is to test it thoroughly before your first virtual open house so you can run it like a pro.   #3 Prepare ahead of time : try with your family, friends and your team first Before the live, make sure you do at least one test run so if there are any technical issues (e.g. internet connection, using the video conferencing and screen sharing software, camera angles and light, microphone, loudspeakers, webcam etc.) you can deal with them beforehand. Trying first with friends and family will also help you to gain more confident for the big moment ! No matter if you make the live with only one person or hundred, you need to prepare yourself first in order to be ready. Preparation is important so best to make a script to follow and practice before live streaming.   #4 During the live : The big day It’s best to start by showing the front of the property and entering via the front door as you would if you’re showing a potential buyer in-person. Don’t forget the attention to detail, upgrades, finishes etc. In addition give some brief information about the neighbourhood, local amenities, schools, facilities and so on. Make sure you also stop to answer questions from the audience during the livestream.   #5 Have Fun Whatever you do, be yourself, relax on the day and have fun with the tour. We are all learning in this era of new technologies and even if your tour is not perfect with adequate preparation and using your natural flair you can make sure that mistakes will not be costly.   #6 Reuse and repurpose your content You can record your livestream video and reuse it for YouTube or to publish on your website, Facebook page or other Social Media platforms. This can generate many additional leads and prolong the life of your tour. You can even reach out to those who didn’t have time to attend so they can view the recording. 360 virtual tours worldwide. Simple, fast and affordable. Always.

ImmoMatin consider Klapty as the future Instagram of 360 virtual tours! The idea was presented a year ago (2019), at the RENT trade fair in Paris and during the European photography annual meeting. The forth year, in 2020 (January), Klapty was launched to let people create and publish virtual tour. We believe that the virtual map of the world is skyrocketing and the technology that showcases everything should be in our hand.  The reason YetiVisit SA, the creator of Klapty.com, come with the idea to help scale real estate business in the 360 worlds. Klapty is the first real estate virtual directory or ad portal that let people create 360 virtual tours with ease. Currently, the platform has over 1400 supporting photographers doing greater success in their business. Also, it has two operating modes that let real estate dealers integrate their virtual tour with us either by submitting the tour without paying any cost or by being a subscriber of the Klapty. Besides, klapty is not just confined to one country; our photographers are from 85 different countries that set their own rate and notes. Also, virtual showing everything will give a real look at your business, and you will be able to get more leads than just visitors. How would it benefit the real estate business? Well, businesses will be able to show their future buyers high-quality images of every corner and nook of the house without making them travel to the property. Also, your property would have amazing artefacts, beautiful fixtures and impressive wall treatments that you can describe without saying a single word. It will give clients an instant experience of being in the location.  With us, business is gaining huge reorganization and work effectively in the market. So show your work and double the interaction, attraction and the time spent considering your work. Bonus, the business share will also double!  Source : https://www.immomatin.com/articles/visites-virtuelles/klapty-futur-instagram-de-la-visite-virtuelle-360.htm

If you have ever been in the buying and selling process, you must know the traditional way. You go to a real estate agent, see pictures of properties and apartments, and shortlist properties for real-life visits. But, once you reach the place, it doesn't seem similar to what was showcased in pictures. These discrepancies between the listing and the real visits are not just time-consuming, but also very discouraging for new home buyers. That's when virtual reality comes into play. VR can help real estate agents get more clients, grow their business, and deliver top-notch services.  Using 360 virtual tours help to create transparency, allowing clients to virtually inspect the property without going anywhere.   Here's how VR technology can help you:   Make Your Business Stand Out:   When you are providing competitive services like real estate, it becomes very easy to get your services lost in the competition. With your competitors offering the same things and promising the same services, it doesn't matter if the other brokers are as good as you, your clients will surely deviate. However, video marketing in real estate helps your business stand out. Unlike other radio ads or classified, video ads can highlight your listing and make your real estate agency stand out. Let You Virtually Stage Your Property:   According to the reports, 40% of buyers claim that home staging offers positive effects on buyer's decision and over 80% say that staging a home help visualizing the empty property as their future home.  Staging is one of the most effective and best ways to market properties; it allows buyers to see an empty space as a livable place. Just keep in mind to tailor your virtual staging to a specific audience.     Accentuate The Hidden Features Of Your Property:   Good pictures help you quickly sell your properties. In fact, homes that use professional photos to list on their website sell 50% faster than the homes that show standard photos. Considering that, video marketing is the next step to make your listing more attractive and appealing.  You can create a video tour by using a 360-degree or can also create a 'highlight reel' of the property that you want to sell quickly. Both tactics will help you generate more leads and will give you more buyers.   It Saves Time:   Virtual reality saves time of sellers and buyers, as you don't need to travel from one property to another. A real estate broker will give you virtual tours by sitting in their office. Moreover, the virtual reality in real estate will help clients get access to property 24x7.  With the help of this technology, buyers can visit their houses at any time. Also, it increases the global reach and helps to showcase the property to those clients who are living at a distance.   Virtual Tour Help Building Emotional Connection:   Since virtual tours help clients visualize their property, getting fully involved in the imagination builds an emotional connection of clients with the house. Unlike traditional tours, buyers can take virtual tours at their continence, thereby focusing on every detail.  It involves clients more deeply than other conventional 2D images, which completely look different.   It Gives A Stress-Free Shopping Experience:   Choosing the right home is one of the toughest decisions of home buyers. However, with 360 virtual tours, the stressful part of home buying today happens online, where most people feel comfortable. If reports from the National Association of Realtors are to be believed, over 93% of home searches happen online.   Conclusion:   Virtual reality has now become a huge thing, as it can easily transform any industry, and the real estate industry is no exception.

Are you looking for the best virtual tour software to create unlimited 360 tours? Well, your search is over! Klapty is there for you! With Klapty, you don’t need to be an expert in creating amazing virtual tours; its distinct features enable you to create and share as many virtual tours with ease. We are eager to introduce you to Klapty’s new feature that helps you organize the posts well and share it with your friends.  Why Klapty?   For professionals working in diverse fields, including construction, architecture, real estate, hospitality, education, etc., the ability to create detailed, high-quality virtual tours has become a standard. And, integrating new technology to the existing system can be a bit messy, and make you wonder where to begin. Here are some of the reasons why businesses have started using Klapty to allow their customers an impressive virtual tour to the event avenues, real estate, corporate offices, etc.-   Enjoy High-Quality Virtual Tour with Easy-To-Use Software   Klapty enables you to create 360 virtual tours by just signing or logging to the platform. You can create seamless customized tours while adding images, audios, videos, labels, text, and more! Besides creating a high-quality tour, you get several editing tools to improve the quality of the images or videos.  The best part- it’s easy and lets you create an unlimited number of virtual tours. Plus, you can share the posts on mobile devices as well!   Klapty Is A Secure Platform   Not we provide you with a reliable platform to upload 360 content, but we also guarantee security and its long life. From images to passwords, everything remains protected, and authentication is in your control.    Klapty Offers Good Adaptability   As there is a great variance in our user base, and the industries we serve, we think about the functionality of our platform across the devices. Klapty is responsive on mobile devices, desktops, iPhone, iPad, or VR headsets. From sending links via emails to allowing integration with social networking sites, Klapty makes it easy for you to reach your audience.   What Is The Best Way To Create Virtual Tours With Klapty?   Here are some of the best practices and constraints to be considered while creating a virtual tour using Klapty-   Showcasing Properly Is Quite Crucial   Whether you want to promote a restaurant, corporate meeting hall, or any type of property, there’s no point producing a high-quality tour is it isn’t showcased properly. So, it is crucial to make the place look attractive beforehand.  Beware of the elements that may drive your shooting off-track. Another great approach is to start the virtual tour outside the building, thus allowing the visitor to obtain a 360-degree view.  Besides, calling upon a professional photographer, many of which can be found on Klapty, is the best way to pave the way for your project’s success. Distribute The Posts Among Relevant People   Here, the first factor to consider is loading speed. If the visitors have to spend time waiting for a virtual tour post to load, they will run away from your website soon. However, Klapty was designed with this in mind and offers high-speed virtual tour distribution. Further, to view your content, people must be able to find it first. It’s even critical in the sectors, such as tourism, where worldwide visitors search for the content. Well, the best way to help them find your virtual tour is to locate it on a website with good SEO.  Klapty aims to become Instagram of 360 virtual tours! It focuses on SEO as a business priority. So, any virtual tour you publish on Klapty will be easy to find for anyone. 360-degree virtual tours with Klapty offer true value to the professionals working in all business sectors. With this platform, it’s easy to produce, publish high-quality images, and share them in your network.  Start your 360 virtual tour journey with Klapty today and give your business a way to bloom!!

Although the first 360-degree image productions date back to the beginning of the 20th century, with for example the first projection of a 360 panorama produced by Raoul Grimoin-Sanson at the 1900 Universal Exhibition, this technology has only recently been adopted by a professional audience and often with caution. Initially quite expensive and technically complex, panoramic image technology is the object of regular discoveries amongst photographers. These days, it provides a promising future, and is progressively replacing traditional photography in many sectors/industries. Despite its stitching defects (connection of the different images to produce a panorama), the democratisation of panoramic imagery on mobile devices is helping the general public familiarise with this technology and reduces any apprehension involved with its usage.   What impact on the audience?   Several studies show that the emotional response of 360 virtual tour and virtual reality users is much stronger than that of people viewing classic photographic images. Subjects also engage to a greater extent with this type of content. A study of 1'300 adults by Greenlight VR shows that 71% of those surveyed believe that brands using VR are "more modern and forward-looking".   What technological progress?   Technological progress in the 360 field are relentless, and the launch of cameras capable of capturing two spherical images using two very wide-angle lenses (>180 degrees) set back to back, has allowed for much better quality 360 panoramas. The market for 360 cameras is one of fierce competition. Despite three brands currently leading the pack (Ricoh with its Theta Z1, Insta360 with the One X and GoPro with the « Fusion ») with reasonable prices (especially when comparing with pioneers in this market, such as Matterport), it is difficult to predict at this stage who will be the winner. Which uses in the future? 360-video, which is yet only at its early stages, will provide even greater possibilities. One can imagine merging 360-video with virtual reality, a situation in which one could evolve in a totally interactive way in a realistic environment. This technology however still faces many challenges before it can reach a professional level similar to that of 360 images, namely:   - A picture quality that isn't as good as that of current digital film   - A new conceptual approach to film directing. One can't for example position an actor at given point in a scene, as you would with conventional film (since the person viewing the film chooses his point of view, and may not necessarily look in a given direction)   - A complex post-production process, which implies high production costs   - The lack of a proper software solution allowing virtual graphic objects to be inserted into a film's scenes with ease   We can however expect these different obstacles to be progressively lifted, with the increasing adoption by the general public of virtual reality headsets (with the dropping prices of such solutions) and the many innovations provided by start-ups in this field. Pioneers or not? Some companies, such as Hong-Kong Airlines and its advert using a 360 film, or Marriott Hotels with its virtual reality travel agencies, allowing people to experiment a destination before travelling (using one of their hotels, of course), have decided not to wait until these technologies are all mature, and want to acquire a 360 experience which will certainly prove to be a competitive advantage in years to come. If these companies are acting as pioneers, the situation is different with the 360 virtual tour, a solution that is already well-tested, fully functional and available to all, both to view and produce. In another series of articles, we will explore the way in which 360 virtual tours can be used in different sectors. To be followed...

In this interview with members of the de Rahm real estate agency in Lausanne, we discuss their use of virtual tours and of the YetiVisit solution. This 360 virtual tour platform is the first developed by the team in charge of Klapty.   Good afternoon Julien Diserens, you are currently a Business Analyst with de Rham, a client of YetiVisit. Today, I would like to discuss your experience with 360.   Hello, I have asked two colleagues to take part in this interview: Mr. Lopez, our Marketing Manager and Mr. Bonvin, our main YetiVisit user in the past year.   To start, can you tell me more about your company?   So, de Rham is based in Lausanne, was founded over 100 years ago and is active throughout the Leman region. Our main activities involve property management, brokering, property valuation & appraisal.   How has this market evolved in recent years, and what impact has this had on your activities?   We are now in an offer-based market which has strongly evolved. This wasn't the case previously, and requires greater marketing means and activity. In the previous era, with an interesting property, little effort was required to uncover several clients. This is not the case today, be it for property sale or rental. Products need to look "sexy", to be branded. Therefore, we now have a three-person marketing team to help manage such tasks.   Is this true for your entire product-range, or only some types of property?   This is especially the case with mid-range properties, with many projects currently under way in the eastern part of Lausanne. There is therefore a high-level of competition and property prices are higher than they should be. As a consequence, it is not always easy to find tenants. They are now increasingly volatile, and don't mind moving for a slightly lower rent. At one point in time, a person renting a property would stay for 10-15 years.   This situation is mostly about rentals, what about property sales?   We haven't noticed any major changes, except for an increased competition due to online platforms. Property owners have nevertheless increased their expectations, with a greater focus on showcasing their products. They are the main drivers of current changes.   How can 360 virtual tour solutions help with some of these issues?   Today, the newer generations place a greater emphasis on visuals and immersion, as they want everything immediately, with a click, text has therefore become secondary. Therefore, virtual tours and high-quality photography have helped us differentiate from our competitors.   Based on these premises, what criteria did you use to select YetiVisit?   At the time, we were seeking a fast and straightforward solution. We wanted to manage the entire process internally, and therefore required a solution which could provide autonomy, without it being too expensive.   Had you already had any other experiences with 360?   Yes, with external suppliers. These were very positive, but we depended on them. We had to organise property visits, manage timings and rely on their planning.   During your experience with YetiVisit, what type of property have you showcased on the platform?   An entire range, from a studio, to a villa costing several millions.   It therefore covers your entire product range, both in rental and property sales?   That is the case, as well as commercial property.   You therefore shot the 360 images internally. How did you organise this?   We used a Ricoh Theta V, and we are waiting to try the Z1 in order to further improve the quality. Our goal is to cover our entire range of properties, but with a high demand, we have setup a ticketing system. The property managers use this to brief our marketing team on their needs for the promotion of a given property.   What is the main source of 360 virtual tour requests, the property managers or the owners?   Six months ago, our managers didn't hold all the cards to provide owners with the guarantee that all had been done to promote their property. Because of this, we setup a training to help property managers understand the new possibilities, their features and costs involved. We also conducted A/B testing on our website to help demonstrate that the property ads using these new techniques were performing much better than those without. We have since experienced a much stronger internal demand for 360 virtual tours.   Have you managed to precisely demonstrate the added-value of 360 for property promotion?   Well, we didn't just analyse the 360, but conducted a comprehensive overview of the new property ads, which contain 360 virtual tours and much better photography. 360 necessarily helped improve our promotions, but we didn't isolate this element. We studied the global ad success level, as one entity. We had to explain to our managers that in 2019, a typical "nice 2 bedroom flat in Lausanne" ad with a picture of the facade wasn't enough anymore. You now need to use sophisticated wording, nice imagery and 360 virtual tours. We need to use these tools, as the owners are now requesting we do so.   Are the owners specifically asking for 360, or do they just request improved ads?   It's global, both. There was often a high level of frustration with the existing promotions. When this is the case, the first thing we do is the review the ad. In this context, 360 did help us improve the content.   As far as the general public and property buyers are concerned, do they request virtual tours when they aren't provided?   It depends, but I recall the example of a property that had been on the market for over six months, and when we added a virtual tour to the ad, it was rented two days later. We also had a property in Ecublens for sale for one million francs, and it wasn't selling. We sent a colleague along to shoot some good photos and produce a virtual tour. The people who finally purchased the property told us they had noticed it after we had made these changes to the ad. One truly realises that visuals are the crux in today's world.   Have any managers reported a reduced number of "useless" property visits since you've introduced virtual tours?   We haven't reviewed this issue, but our managers are very pleased, as things are much better than before.   We were wondering from a sustainability perspective, whether the level of travel of your managers had been reduced following the use of virtual tours. Have you had any feedback about this?   It is difficult for us measure this aspect for rentals, since many visits are organised by the previous tenant, or with the concierge. 360 virtual tours must certainly reduce the number of useless visits, when for example someone realises that the kitchen is not bright enough.   Has using 360 virtual tours had a positive impact on your brand image, are you perceived as being ahead of your competitors?   Well, today all real estate agents of a given size use or should be using 360. I believe this is the case for most of them. There will always be good and bad students. Everybody realises that 360 is useful, but the approach not always the same. We decided to manage everything internally, whereas many of our competitors call upon external photographers. This helps us be responsive and sometimes produce better images. We are clearly at the avant-garde, with consequently, a very good brand image.   What will be the place of 360 in real estate in the future? What potential improvements have you identified?   Integrating Home Staging with 360 tours is clearly a requirement, if this can be executed at a reasonable cost. Cost is an important aspect for the rental market, as our fees are much lower than those of property sales. Our internal approach has mostly involved developing promotional packages with costs that vary according to the means involved.    www.derham.ch

During this interview in September 2019, Raynald Salah discusses his experience with virtual tours, the new Klapty adventure and his vision for the future of 360 platforms.   - Good afternoon Raynald, you are the founder of YetiVisit, a 360 virtual tour solution. Can you tell me more about your experience in this area?   So, first I started my career as an IT specialist, then moved later to photography when I decided to become a certified Google StreetView photographer. At that time, I produced more than 300 virtual tours throughout the French-speaking part of Switzerland. While creating these tours, I came to realise the missed opportunities of 360. In those days, producing tours was still highly technical, and was well beyond most people's capabilities. Creating and distributing tours was difficult and involved using the right tools. The different phases were very time-consuming.   - Looking into the 360 market, both from a company user perspective and from that of a photographer, which conclusions do you reach?   The situation is quite obvious; there are slightly more than 10 firms worldwide leading this market, which help users create virtual tours. Some platforms are easier to use than others, the outcome however is almost always identical. At the end of the day, they don't provide much innovation, no true added value for their clients.   - What about the situation with photographers?   The main concern is the way most platforms which call upon photographers today tend to push them into a "Uber like" business model. They often don't have a direct contact with the end-client, and must answer platform requests very rapidly in order to obtain any contracts. One also notices that the artistic aspect of photography is disappearing, as the platforms apply automatic treatments to the images, thereby losing the photographer's touch. Finally, photographers often find it difficult to win new contracts and manage the administrative aspects of their activity at the same time. They often lack marketing skills, it's simply not their job.   - There is therefore some kind of levelling down of the quality of what's produced?   Exactly, we are witnessing a move to highly standardised images, which removes the photographer's know-how from the production, her/his artistic touch. It also results in a levelling down of revenue for this profession. A photographer would need to be involved in 6 to 7 shootings a day on many of these online platforms to live decently.   - Photographers can't therefore make a living out of these platforms or develop tight relationships with their clients.   Exactly. One of our goals with a new platform we are currently developing is to change this situation, we want to remove the "Uber like" approach to photography, in order to safeguard this profession. We want to put people back at the core of this business. - As far as this is concerned, were do you currently stand with your projects?   After identifying these different issues, we were convinced things couldn't go on this way and decided to create a platform that would be the exact opposite of those currently in the market. I can't discuss too many things regarding the Klapty project, as it's still a secret. It will provide many benefits, both to photographers and to companies wanting to produce high-quality 360 virtual tours. The new platform will be quite revolutionary.   - Can you identify some of the sectors you want to target with this new solution?   Well, there are many, as we notice today that virtual tours aren't only for the real estate sector, even if 80% of agencies use them today to improve upon the traditional use of photography. Feedback we've received and our market research regarding the 360-market show that real estate is only one small part of the market. There is a demand in many other sectors, such as hotels, retailers and even in industry.   - So, many sectors which don't currently use 360 tours, will soon be adopting platforms such as Klapty?   Exactly, we are already witnessing a strong adoption level in a variety of sectors, but with low added-value, due to a lack of innovative features on the existing platforms. We want to provide a strong added-value to our clients.   - Coming back to the "Uber like" issue with photographers, I believe you have a few surprises for them with Klapty. Can you tell us more without revealing the secrets of the new platform?   There will be a greater flexibility for photographers, a more humane approach. They will be able to master their activity and therefore deliver better results. I'm afraid I can't tell you much more for the moment.

Why spend time & budget on creating 360 virtual tours? To follow the latest trend? To match your competitors?   In this series of articles, we will be examining the different aspects of virtual tours, and discover that this can not only increase your revenue, but also reduce the costs involved in promoting your properties. In this first article, we explain why using 360 virtual tours has become mandatory for any serious professional in the real estate sector.   An increasingly competitive market   As a professional in real estate, you will have noticed the tightening of the market in recent years. The time is long gone by when all you needed to sell a property was a poster in your agency's window and a few photos on your website. These days, the number of actors in the market has increased, as well as their level of communication targeting prospects. Real estate professionals wanting to be successful not only need to have attractive content to showcase their properties, but need to ensure this content is distributed throughout many channels. This communication must be seen by many potential clients, through a good search engine optimisation of their websites and promotions on various web platforms. What's the point creating great content to promote your products on your website and on social media if you're not highly visible?   New behaviours   The current situation is complexified by the increasing attractivity of small ad sites such as LeBonCoin (who currently displays 950'000 properties for sale or rental in France). These channels totally bypass real estate agents, which makes it increasingly important for them to improve their communication using attractive new solutions, such as the virtual tour. All is not bleak however in the sector and some socioeconomic evolutions have had a positive effect. It is for example the case with the increase in professional mobility, which has involved people having to move more often, thereby increasing the number of transactions. Families in this situation often must change regions or even countries, and must therefore seek a new home to purchase or rent without being physically present in their new destination. Virtual tours provide a strong added value in such a situation, helping people discover the properties on the market in a region and only organising property visits when they find one which perfectly fits their requirements.   An asset for your activity   Beyond the necessity for professionals to react proactively to changes in their sector, 360 virtual tours provide further benefits. First of all, adopting this promotional tool improves the way clients perceive their brand, giving it a dynamic image, one of a company having adopted a modern and efficient solution to inform its clients. Furthermore, the interactive and playful aspect of virtual tours result in visitors spending more time on real estate websites and researching a greater number of properties. 360-degree virtual tours therefore provide true added value for real-estate professionals. This is now possible with the rapid evolution of 360 technologies, making it increasingly easier to produce the required images and by a growing ecosystem of specialised photographers, capable of providing high-quality 360 shots at a reasonable price. In our next article in this series, we will identity the main benefits of virtual tours for the real estate sector. Stay tuned!

Doesn't the pleasure of travel involve changing your environment and leaving to meet other cultures and landscapes? If this is the case, why would tourism professionals spend time and budgets to produce virtual tours? In a series of articles, we shall explore the different aspects of virtual tours and observe that using these solutions can truly highlight a destination, hotel or museum. In this first article, we question the reasons which now make it compulsory for any serious professional in the tourism sector to adopt 360 virtual tours.   Travel requires preparation   When a person decides to set out on a journey, they rarely do so without any preparation. Most people prepare their travel, particularly when these involve travelling to remote destinations or multiple stops. Beyond the travel logistics (which mean of transportation, which hotel, ...), it's the destination that must get the traveller excited. Tourists don't purchase a product, but a dream, an escape. 360 virtual tours therefore help people discover a city, a venue or various leisure activities long before they depart. These visits will allow travellers to check many travel details from the comfort of their home, without wasting too much time. With the rising standards of living in the emerging countries and the rise of low-cost tourism, the travel sector has witnessed a true revolution in recent years. This change has involved stronger competition amongst the various actors and a professionalisation of their communication activities. All professionals in the sector, transport managers, heads of tourism, hotel managers or museum managers, therefore need to make their offers more attractive and to circulate them more widely.   Internet changed the world   In this context, the growth of Internet platforms such as TripAdvisor, Hotel.com and many others, represents both a chance and a challenge for professionals of the tourism sector. The high visibility of these platforms makes them essential to promote any offer, yet the commissions they charge represent significant amounts, thereby resulting in reduced revenue for the different operators. It has therefore become increasingly difficult for tourism professionals to only promote their offer through their company's website. A virtual tour platform, which helps showcase tourism products in a highly visible, interactive and comprehensive manner, with a wide web distribution, provides a true added value in this area. Another phenomenon related to the expansion of online solutions, is resulting in a true crisis amongst many actors of the tourism sector; this involves people organising their own travel, without calling upon travel agencies or tour operators. The recent bankruptcy of Thomas Cook is only the latest victim of the power Internet has conferred to consumers in this sector. Tourism professionals using virtual tours can follow this new trend, by helping people wanting to manage their own travel prepare their holidays. Furthermore, virtual tours allow visitors to discover an environment in an immersive manner without having to wear a virtual reality headset. People can therefore discover their next holiday destination from the comfort of their home, without having to use any special equipment.   Enhances your activity   Beyond the need to respond in a proactive way to the different changes in their sector, tourism professionals will benefit in many ways when using 360 virtual tours. First of all, adopting this promotional tool improves the way clients perceive their brand, giving it a dynamic image, one of a company having adopted a modern and efficient solution to inform its clients. Furthermore, the interactive and playful aspect of virtual tours result in visitors spending more time on the tourism websites and providing more interaction. 360-degree virtual tours therefore provide true added value for tourism professionals. This is now possible with the rapid evolution of 360 technologies, making it increasingly easier to produce the required images and by a growing ecosystem of specialised photographers, capable of providing high-quality 360 shots at a reasonable price. Virtual travel will never replace the true experience, it does however provide a foretaste of one's upcoming destination and thereby generates positive emotions, even before the person takes the first step. In our next article in this series, we will identity the main benefits of virtual tours for the tourism sector. Stay tuned!

In this second article covering 360 virtual tours in the real estate sector, we review the benefits of such a solution for companies active in this field.   Improve presentation   At one point in time and in certain regions, when demand for property was at its peak, it was sufficient for real estate professionals to publish an ad with a few average looking photos to reach a client. This period is now mostly over. The overall quality of real estate websites has improved over time, with better showcasing of properties (professional photography, use of video). Despite these many improvements, such websites often remain frustrating to visitors, as they lack interactivity. A person interested in a given property may wonder what the surroundings look like, or how the kitchen is fitted and their discovery will be limited to the small number of photos on the website or by a video that doesn't cover a given aspect of the property. With a high-quality 360 virtual tour, the future buyer can explore an entire property, at his own rhythm, from the comfort of his own home. His interest and curiosity are totally fulfilled during this property search session. Beyond exploring the different parts of a property, a real estate agent my provide the visitor with specific information on each part of the product (local history, information on local services and public transportation). Furthermore, the visitor can click on the various objects situated in the place in order to obtain more information, be it through a notice, a link to a PDF document or with a video or animation. This could for example be the full details of the various appliances in a kitchen. On a larger scale, virtual tours produced using Klapty will allow clients to automatically generate a property's floorplans, which they can review leisurely, before they even contact the real estate agent.   Optimising activity   Beyond an improved presentation of properties, it is the various features included within a virtual tour that will help real estate professionals save precious time. The first benefit which comes to mind it that of visit optimisation. People having spotted a property on a website after seeing a few photos and videos, are often disappointed as soon as they enter the building. Helping visitors gain a better idea of a property using a virtual tour therefore avoids useless visits. A better situation for all involved, the client, the real estate agent and the environment. This also helps exclude "real estate tourists", people visiting properties to satisfy their curiosity, without any real purchase intent. Visitors requesting a property visit after "falling in love" with it during a virtual tour are therefore serious clients. This virtual visit will have helped them answer many of their questions. The real estate agent will therefore spend less time answering questions and have more time for the negotiation phase and to promote other properties in his portfolio.

In this second article covering to the tourism sector, we review the benefits of such solutions for the various companies active in this field.   Creating emotion   As travelling for a holiday is supposed to be a pleasurable activity, people in charge of travel destinations and tourist establishments must help future travellers dream of their next vacation. Getting people to discover a city or a tourist attraction, using a high-quality virtual tour, helps convey a place's atmosphere or a facility highlight its various benefits. A visitor's first impressions, delivered by the tour within the comfort of their home, will generate various emotions. If these emotions are positive, the person is more likely to make a booking for their next holiday. An entire tourist guide industry has witnessed strong growth in the past decades, promoters in the tourism sector often finding it difficult to share the beauty of their destinations, sites or tourist facilities efficiently, in order to ensure their popularity. With the virtual tour, it has now become much easier for a hotel manager to promote the beautiful new spa in his hotel, or a museum director to showcase a new upcoming exhibition.   Help plan   Most people plan their holidays beforehand, and the 360 virtual tour truly provides added value in this context. As far as destinations are concerned, future visitors can gain a good grasp of a place and of its most interesting attractions, thereby helping them plan their visits. This helps tourists based in one place, but wanting to discover its surroundings, and is a necessity for people travelling throughout an entire region, having to book accommodation in various locations. Combined with a booking system, a virtual tour helps people book well in advance, making it easier for professionals in the tourism sector to plan their upcoming activity level. The presentation of a destination's accommodation offer is enriched using a virtual tour, making it possible for example for a hotel manager to showcase various aspects of his hotel (restaurant, spa, business centre, ...). In the same way, hotels may use the virtual tour to explain usage of their facilities, helping guests discover the features in an interactive and natural manner. People wanting to make a booking will therefore have a better idea of an establishment, thereby reducing the time spent during the booking process. Lastly, a good quality virtual tour serves as a guarantee for guests, allowing them to explore an establishment and its surroundings before booking. This helps avoid traps such as the hotel with a view on the local landfill, or worse...   Impossible locations   Access to some valuable tourist locations is sometimes restricted due to their popularity or for security reasons. In some cases, this involves protecting monuments or natural sites from mass tourism, in order to maintain such places for future generations. This is for example the case of the Grotte de Lascaux, in which the prehistorical wall paintings were starting to decay with the visitors' breathing, resulting in the authorities opening a replica of the cave next to it. Using virtual tours helps keep visits to such locations "open", while protecting them from tourist presence. Other interesting places may be difficult to reach or dangerous. As most people aren't Mike Horn or Bear Grylls, visiting such locations is made possible using a virtual tour.

Have it produced in-house or call upon one of the many professional photographers available on Klapty's website? This third article in our series on virtual tours in different business sectors focuses on production. We will examine the best practices and some of the constraints that need to be considered in order to produce a high-quality tour.   Showcasing   A first important rule: There is no point producing the greatest virtual tour ever, if it is not properly showcased. Whatever you want to promote, a property, a restaurant or a hotel room, creating an effective virtual tour implies you make the place look attractive beforehand. This involves highlighting the most interesting aspects, ensuring elements in each scene are set harmoniously and creating small details the visitor will find attractive. You may want to check some of the rules of home-staging: http://www.makingyoufindable.com/top-15-home-staging-rules-according-to-studies/   Also beware of elements that may drive your shooting off-track when filming your tour. An animal walking into your camera's field of view will mean you need to start all over again... Beyond the interior aspects of your virtual tour's subject, it is often valuable to help the visitor grasp its surroundings, by shooting through the building's windows or from a balcony. Another approach involves starting your virtual tour outside the building, thereby allowing the visitor to obtain a 360-degree view, then entering the premises. Any photographer or film director will confirm that light is the key to success in their activity. Although most recent 360 degree cameras make it easy for most of us to shoot our own 360-degree tours affordably, ensuring a proper uniform lighting throughout the tour is still complex for most people. Calling upon a professional 360 photographer, many of which you can find on Klapty, is still the best way to ensure your projects' success.   A proper distribution   Once you have produced a professional 360 virtual tour, it is important to have it distributed to as many relevant people as possible. The first factor here is that of loading speed. If visitors need to spend a long time waiting for your virtual tour to load, or every time they interact with it, they will soon run away from your website. Optimising the servers on which your tour is hosted is therefore critical. The Klapty platform was designed from scratch with this in mind and allows for high-speed virtual tour distribution. Being able to rapidly load your tour is great, but people must first be able to find it. Ensuring the website on which your tour is hosted is properly referenced with the main website search engines is a key criterion for success. This is even critical in sectors such as tourism, as you may have visitors from anywhere worldwide. The best chance for them to find your virtual tour is to have it located on a website with good SEO. Klapty, who wants to become the Instagram of 360 virtual tours, has made search engine optimisation a business priority. Any virtual tour published on Klapty will be easy to find, even for a person on the other side of the planet.   Two other aspects remain important to ensure your tour's success: > Mobile compatibility: A growing number of visitors will explore virtual tours using smartphones, which implies your virtual tours must be compatible with most of today's mobile devices > Complementarity: Several studies show that combining a virtual tour with high-quality photos is the best way to promote a place. Don't hesitate therefore to have a few good quality pictures taken during your virtual tour production

The previous articles regarding the various usages of virtual tours in the tourism and real estate sectors may not yet have you convinced of their advantages. Here, we introduce some hard figures that may help you realise the strength of such solutions and adopt them in your company. In this last article of our series on the usage of virtual tours in the tourism and real estate sectors, we provide some interesting usage statistics.   Real estate sector   There are three main ways to showcase a property and their efficiency has been analysed in a study provided on the vri.mc website:   > Providing only the property's characteristics (surface, location, …): 24% of visitors are interested in the property > Providing the characteristics along with photos and videos: 37% of visitors are interested in the property > Providing the characteristics along with photos and videos, completed by a 360 virtual tour: Interest for the property climbs to 48%   There are currently 30'000 real estate professionals worldwide, in over 90 countries, using virtual tours to showcase their properties. Yet, this only represents 22% of actors involved in the sector! Using virtual visits should be attracting many more people in this sector, as shown in the following statistics issued by several important real estate websites:   > Realestate.com.au: Virtual tours increase online interactions by 600% and per agent calls by 200% > Apartments.com: Reach 50% more qualified buyers > Realtor.com: 50% of visitors spend over two minutes exploring virtual tours > Se Loger: Property adverts using virtual tours have 3-5x more contact requests Tourism sector   As we saw in a previous article, a majority of people spend time preparing their next holiday: > 85% of people use the web to prepare their travel > They visit on average 22 websites, during 9.5 different sessions, before booking their travel (Source: Google ThinkInsights 2011) Making travel planning more efficient (save time) and more pleasant (help the visitor dream) using a virtual tour therefore provides a true-added value at this stage.   Figures published on panomatics.com show how efficient virtual tours are: > Hotels providing virtual tours are seen 87% more online than those without > Visitors spend 5-10x more time on the websites of hotels with virtual tours > Tourism websites using virtual tours generate 50% more interaction than those only using photos > 75% of clients state that using virtual tours had a critical impact on their travel booking decisions   (Source: panomatics.com/statistics)