Rocky Mountaineer is using virtual reality to help showcase its luxury train rides through Alberta’s Rocky Mountains in hopes of luring more travellers as it sets to launch its latest season.
The tour company partnered with Travel Alberta to shoot what they say is the “world’s first-ever virtual reality rail video.”
Shot with a 360-degree camera, the video takes potential travellers on a stunning trip from Banff to Lake Louise surrounded by lush forests, bright blue lakes and snow-capped mountains. The video, filmed by Immersive Media, also includes footage from inside and above the train.
The two brands say the best way to experience the video is using the Google Cardboard viewer, which is compatible with Android operating systems (though an interactive video is available on YouTube).
“It’s a virtual tour of taking the Rocky Mountaineer train, putting you in the perspective of being on the train itself,” said Karen Ward, director of consumer marketing for North America at Travel Alberta. “The country was build on trains and railways,” Ward said. “We’re selling a destination, a great travel experience.”
Shannon Kidd, senior manager of global communications for Rocky Mountaineer, said the video is being promoted on digital and social media and will be provided to sales people in the company’s targets markets, which include the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Kidd said it’s another layer of Rocky Mountaineer’s “All Aboard Amazing” campaign and promotes the opening of the company’s 2016 season on April 19.
The video was launched in Washington, D.C. last month at an event hosted by National Geographic. The campaign comes as more Canadians are vacationing at home following the drop in value of the Canadian dollar against the American greenback, which makes travelling south of the border more expensive. However, more Americans are seeking to stretch their dollar here in Canada. Americans made nearly 12% more trips to Canada in December 2015 compared to a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada. In that same period, Canadian trips to the U.S. fell nearly 21% year-over-year.
Both Kidd and Ward said the U.S. has always been a core market, even when the dollar was at par. However, the recovering U.S. economy and the lower loonie is helping to boost tourism to Canada, Kidd said.
