Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views Puts New England Businesses Right on the Map

Jump Start Your New England Google Virtual Tour VisitingNewEngland.com, has formed an alliance with Google’s provider of Google Business Tours. To jump start your Google Virtual Tour, you can sign up on the VisitingNewEngland Google Business View info page, or directly sign up here.  A Google Photographer will call you to discuss the participation details.

Lately, I have been traveling to New England restaurants, hotels, attractions and other New England businesses without ever visiting.

How is this possible?

Enter Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views.

As a consumer and travel writer, I am absolutely blown away by the Google Virtual Tours. An expansion of the popular Google Street View, Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views offers interactive 360 degree Virtual Tours that go inside businesses and provide an incredible life-like "you are there" experience.

Need an immediate visual confirmation? Take a look below at this Google Virtual Tour of the Roost Cafe and Bistro in Ogunquit, Maine. All you have to do to start the tour is place the cursor over the photo and move the arrows around to tour this cozy, little restaurant (please be patient as this and ensuing tours load, thanks!)...


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Amazing isn't it? The concept and final product are brilliant, in my opinion. I believe it's a real game changer for how travelers and customers research their destinations, as well as being a potential boost for online business listings.

The Business Advantage
I was telling my tax preparer about Google Virtual Tours for businesses the other day. She sounded genuinely excited, but paused and asked, "What value does it have to a business?"

In one word, "visibility."

For starters, the tours are placed alongside a businesses' Google Maps listing. To illustrate, let's go back to the Roost Cafe and Bistro to see how its business looks on Google Maps. You can check it out here.

The tours also show up in Google search results. How exciting! As an example, take a look at Google search results for Foster's Downeast Clambake in York Harbor, Maine. The "See inside" image link at the top right of the page will take you there.

Additionally, Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views can be placed on your web site and social media. Think of how visually stunning this kind of virtual tour would look to your customers who visit your site or social media destinations like Google+ or Facebook!

Take a look at the Cape Neddick Inn in Cape Neddick, Maine, to see how they implemented a tour on its web site and the The Inn at Tanglewood in York Harbor, Maine, for a Facebook example.

A Rave Review
Su Wetzel, who owns The Inn at Tanglewood Hall with husband Andy, loves the new Google Business View technology.

We (signed up) for the tour about a year ago and it is great," said Wetzel.  "I especially like the way you can put individual rooms on the web site. There's no better way (online) to get a tour of the rooms. It's amazing, you can really zoom in to get the details."

The Wetzels also had a Virtual Tour of the outside of the Inn -- a great idea as the property features beautiful woodlands, colorful gardens, and fountains.

Su said that future customers that first get introduced to the Inn at Tanglewood Hall through Google Business View become so familiar with the property that they ask where certain rooms are when ultimately staying at the Inn.

"They ask about the rooms," said Wetzel. "We have people come in, for example, and ask where that billiard room is! They really get immersed in it (Google Business View)."

Su also recognizes Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views as a marketing tool.

"I have created each tour as a separate page so I can use Google Analytics to  see how each one is doing," said Wetzel. "I also like how the tour shows up on Google Maps and search results. When you 'Google' the Inn at Tanglewood, the tour shows up in the results.  It's very economical, too!"

The Customer/Traveler Advantage
Remember those 35mm cameras of yesteryear? We took photos on film and had no idea how the photos would look until FotoMat processed the film. It's the same way with restaurant, hotel, travel attractions and retail destinations. How do you truly know what a place looks like without visiting? Singular photos only tell part of the story. Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views solves that challenge.

I know, for me, Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views is also a great way to rekindle travel memories of places we've been. One of our favorite southern Maine restaurants is the seasonal Inn on the Blues in York Beach, Maine. Here in New England, we have long, cold winters and often need warm summer memories to help get us through. Just looking at the Inn on the Blues through the Google inside street view warms my heart -- the attractive dining room where we feast on phenomenal seafood, the front porch overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, etc.

Take a look at all of Inn on the Blues -- we encourage you to move the arrows to get a view from that beautiful front porch of Short Sands Beach, too...


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Endless Possibilities
Google indoor street views are not just limited to restaurants, hotels, attractions and retail. Other businesses and organizations have signed onto Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views, too, including academia, catering, healthcare, hospitality, services and wedding and event venues.  Here are some more examples (and, as a reminder, move those arrows to get a full Virtual Tour experience)...

York Hospital, York, Maine
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Garde Arts Center, New London, Conn.


Gene Langan VW, Glastonbury, Conn.

My business, VisitingNewEngland.com, has formed an alliance with Google’s provider of this new program. I am truly excited about this partnership as my main business vision has always been to help others, including being a huge proponent of small business. I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am about this project as I know how much it will help bring visibility to the next level for New England businesses, organizations, institutions or venues. Bottom line: businesses can leverage the power of Google, and the Virtual Tours are stunningly beautiful.

With that said, I look at Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views as a potential stimulus plan for small businesses, the ultimate informal trip planning guide for travelers, and an invaluable tool for getting to know businesses better. Now, that's doing good business and doing business good!


Editor's note: if you are a businesses owner interested in Google Virtual Tours - Inside Street Views, you can learn more and sign up for more information on the VisitingNewEngland Google Business Virtual Tour page. You can also sign up directly right here to get more information.

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Something Fishy in Vermont

Article by Eric H.

Every once in awhile we stray from our predominant New England travel and vacation theme to feature local businesses and locally-produced products that we truly believe in. Today, we feature a fish oil supplement made in Vermont. Yes, fish oil made in Vermont is far removed in topic, than, say, spending a romantic weekend getaway in Stowe, Vt., so bear with us while we take a vacation from New England travel news.

New Chapter, a Brattleboro, Vt., supplement company, recently came up with one of the most brilliant health food products, in our opinion, with Wholemega.

This fish oil supplement features nature's complement of the 16 omegas (3, 5, 6, 7, and 9s) naturally occurring in wild caught salmon. That's good news if you subscribe to many health advocates' belief that state fish oil has the potential to benefit cardiovascular, immune system, brain and digestive health.*

Wholemega differs from most fish oils that usually focus on just two omega components, DHA and EPA. This "whole food" concept of featuring all the omegas -- plus naturally occurring vitamin D and Astaxanthin (a powerful antioxidant) -- virtually mimics the composition of the omegas found in salmon. What's more, the salmon used in Wholemega is caught from the "pristine, protected waters of Alaska," so product purity is paramount -- significant, given fish can carry toxins, PCBs, heavy metals, etc.

You can see the product integrity just in its color, alone. The Astaxanthin gives Wholemega its deep orange/red color, quite different from the dull, yellow hue of purified fish oils that can result from too much chemical processing. New Chapter reports that Wholemega is "rigorously tested to ensure each capsule delivers Natures bio available, effective, and whole profile of beneficial fatty acids and nutrients."

I've taken fish oils for a long time, and never felt any external difference. Perhaps they were working on the inside, but I can tell you that Wholemega is working on the outside as well for me. I notice a more calm feeling, which is a great remedy during this recession. Also, Wholemega does not "come up" on me with those terrible fish burps. I guess that's what happens when you consume a product that is more in touch with nature than supplemental lab processes. Sometimes, you have to wonder if some of the supplements out there have more drug-like qualities, given the nutrients, or other valuable components, are isolated and created in high doses. I believe that New Chapter Founder and Chairman Paul Shulick understands the potential downfalls of nutritional supplements, and that he went on a mission many years ago to try to capture the genius of nature through whole food supplements. That doesn't mean we should view supplements as the end-all to good health, but rather to use them wisely (always consult with your primary care physician first before taking a supplement) -- to "add to" a healthy whole foods-based, organic diet.

Nowhere in nature does isolated DHA and EPA exist in a fish. The idea of featuring all 16 omegas may seem novel, but it is ultimately fundamentally simple: respect the innate wisdom of nature and try to come as close to it in possible in a supplement. Why didn't anyone else think of this idea before when making fish oil? I love this product and commend Mr. Shulick and his staff for offering this upgrade on fish oil supplements!


* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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