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| SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 1999 - The California Travel
and Tourism Commission (CTTC), the marketing voice for California’s tourism
industry, and bamboo.com, the leading producer of 360-degree virtual tours
for the Internet, announced today the launch of the California Bed Breakfast
bamboo Virtual Tour program, which is being offered in conjunction with
the California Association of Bed Breakfast Inns (CABBI). The new program
will enable bed and breakfast innkeepers throughout the Golden State to
reach worldwide customers on the Internet.
The CTTC will offer the program, which includes 360-degree virtual tours, to all California bed breakfast inns. Bamboo.com will provide a full service, which includes capturing images of multiple scenes of interior rooms and/or exterior areas, image processing, and Internet posting. The first bed and breakfast virtual tours will be available online beginning today. The tours will be hosted by bamboo.com and visible on California Tourism’s Web site, http://gocalif.ca.gov, CABBI’s Web site, www.innaccess.com and Web sites for individual bed and breakfast inns, as applicable.
“The California Bed Breakfast bamboo Virtual Tour program demonstrates California Tourism’s commitment to providing small businesses with a competitive edge, while offering visitors the most effective means to preview an inn before making a reservation,” stated Caroline Beteta, Executive Director, CTTC.”
California is the top travel destination in the United States and bed and breakfast inns play an important role in California’s $64.8 billion tourism industry. Tourism provides jobs for 685,000 Californians, while generating nearly $4 billion in tax revenues. |
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| Also See: | Virtual Marketing Reality / The TaylorGroup / Sept 1998 |
| Technology for Today and the Future / Economics Research Associates / 1999 |
“I
am proud that bamboo.com is one of the driving forces launching this program,”
said Kevin B. McCurdy, founder of bamboo.com. “Our virtual tours are already
revolutionizing the residential real estate industry, and we fully expect
to do the same in the bed breakfast industry. Thanks to CTTC and CABBI,
bamboo Virtual Tours are leading online tourism marketing, and I look forward
to working with experts from both CTTC and CABBI.”
Confirming
the value-added advantages that virtual tours offer, Cassandra LaRuffa,
Executive Director of CABBI said, “The California Bed Breakfast bamboo
Virtual Tour program allows small business owners to compete in today’s
global Internet travel marketplace without having to learn how to use specialized
camera equipment or software. Bamboo.com’s full service will enable innkeepers
to focus on what they do best—providing their guests with an unparalleled
level of comfort, relaxation and unique charm.”