Booking an Event Venue in the Age of COVID-19

April 15, 2020

“Our Carriage House is beautiful and right next to the outdoor ceremony space.” Our clients are asking us how our products can help them paint a better picture for their prospective brides, bat mitzvahs and other ceremonies.

Booking an event venue in the age of COVID-19 comes with its own set of unique challenges.

First of all, we’re glad to hear people are looking forward to life returning to normal. But for now, how can a prospective customer “tour” an event venue without actually going on site? A website with photos, even videos, aren’t going to convey the feeling of standing there with your feet crunching down on the gravel path as the cobblestone and ivy-covered Carriage House comes into view.

So, let’s look at our options.

TruFusion 3D Tours

This is a completely immersive experience and the next best thing to virtual reality, which would also be cool. This product brings the essence of a property to life through clean, bright photography that makes you feel like you’re there because you can look around from every angle.

The interactive feature allows you to click or touch on the white circular arrows to move forward, getting deeper into the building, room or hallway.
What’s great is that this experience can be done for outdoor areas as well. Viewers can look up at the sky or down at the ground, as they glide from space to space, taking it all in.

This is a user-driven experience where we host the “tour” on a unique URL. A photo is displayed on the screen and the user has the option of navigating around the property using a Photo Slider Navigation at the bottom. Move from room to room or floor to floor easily using a mouse or touch screen. The user can also use their fingers to “pinch and zoom” into the details of the photo.

This is highly recommended for spaces that have a lot to explore, or a lot of detail inside.

Hybrid Floor Plan Tours

Literally get a sense of the layout with this product. We provide the floor plan for each level so viewers can understand where they are on the property as they look at the photos associated with that space. This works really well for bed & breakfast clients who want to book according to the proximity to exits or amenities.

The reason we call it a hybrid is because we suggest adding a few 360-degree views for a dual experience of seeing the photos and “moving through” the property. It’s another interaction that replicates the view of standing inside the property.

As with our TruFusion 3D, this tour shows the user what it’s like to “stand” in a room and see the views out the window from any angle – so if your property has breathtaking views from featured dining areas or guest rooms, these products can really sell that feature online.

Virtual Staging? Great idea.

For venues where the layout of a banquet hall or reception area is vital to the flow of guest traffic, these floor plan tour add on edits can help walk a potential client through the spaces visually and using room dimensions. Large, empty spaces, whether in a residential home, or an event space, make it hard for viewers to imagine what that area could look like with furnishings.

By virtually staging a room with cocktail tables, chairs, a buffet table, and other items, potential customers can see for themselves if there will be enough room for all their guests and where the pieces could be placed within the room.

While you’re never going to fully replace seeing an event venue in person, there are some high-quality property visualization tools that can assist with the buyer journey during this unprecedented time.