With many people staying home this summer because of the novel coronavirus, travel agencies are working to make virtual tourism more realistic than ever before. Newly enchanced services allow online travelers to shop and even enjoy local cuisine.
A 35-year-old female who works for major Japan travel agency HIS Co. office in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, conducted a 1-1/2-hour tour of the city and its temples on July 20 using Zoom video communications software on her smartphone. Virtual travelers in Tokyo "accompanied" her for a fee of 4,400 yen.
A participant in such tours can ask things like "could you focus your camera on [a popular spot]?" and she will adjust her smartphone accordingly. They can also choose items from souvenir shops and have them sent by international mail, and enjoy local foods by having boxed lunches delivered from a Myanmar restaurant in Tokyo.
HIS introduced online tourism services on April 17 in response to a series of coronavirus-related cancellations. By July, about 15,000 people had utilized approximately 500 services related to about 36 countries.
The company also offers some free online tours that just introduce famous sightseeing spots. An offcial at HIS said, "We hope people will go there and participate in one of our tours in person after the pandemic is over."
The virtual tourism options that spread from April during the "stay-at-home" efforts under the government-declared state of emergency were initially limited to visual experiences featuring local images. To meet the increase in online consumer demand, more and more innovative choices have been put on offer, including real-time interactions and dining experiences.
Arima Onsen in Kobe and Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture are both famous hot spring areas in Japan, and they have been jointly distributing virtual reality videos of 13 hot springs. Wearing VR goggles, participants can put bath salts or other products in their home tub and listen to the sound of hot water flowing during a soak.
Other members of the tourism industry have been getting creative as well -- a Tokyo-based agritourism agency called Autabi, for example, has launched a project to support farmers.
Participants have local sake and farm products sent to them in advance, and on the day of the event virtual tours of production sites are held, followed by an online drinking party with the farmers.
Many of the projects are fully booked. "At first, it was planned as an ad-hoc event, but it's been unexpectedly popular," said Masahiro Karasawa, a 47-year-old representative of Autabi. "I think this will become a new style of travel in the future."
-- Online homecoming
With the spread of the coronavirus, some people starting using the internet to communicate with family members and friends in their hometowns. The government has been promoting such "online homecomings" this summer, and opportunities are believed to be increasing.
The free communication app Line explains on its homepage how to make video calls so that elderly people can use the service.
Even the Kanosekizai tombstone company in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, has been strengthening its online presence. People are refraining from making annual visits to their family graves during the pandemic, so Kanosekizai is offering virtual visits with Zoom software.
"People from far and wide have thanked me for providing this solution because they can't return to their hometowns this year," said the company president.
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