China Overseas Chinese Net, April 8th. According to a report compiled by Australia Net, when Australia closed its borders to overseas tourists in March last year, the prospects for the local tourism industry were bleak.
But recently, some Australian tour guides have found a way to deal with it. They use their selfie sticks to provide virtual travel services to overseas tourists through live mobile connections.
ABC reported on the 7th that even though they are thousands of kilometers away, some "virtual" overseas tourists are still willing to pay for interactive and personalized virtual tours in Australia.
It is reported that most of the "virtual" overseas tourists come from the United States, the United Kingdom and European countries, and they are eager to see the scenery of Australia.
It is understood that O'Sullivan is the founder of Depot Adventures, Melbourne's largest hiking company.
He said that after the Australian border closed in March last year, his company shrank from a company employing 13 employees to a three-person team company.
"60% to 80% of the company's business relies on overseas tourists." During the months of Melbourne's epidemic lockdown, O'Sullivan successfully maintained his business by providing private online walking tours in Melbourne and Sydney.
O'Sullivan said: “When the new crown pneumonia epidemic first broke out, I just started live streaming Melbourne travel for free.” Later, O'Sullivan began to provide online virtual tours to overseas tourists.
It is reported that tourists who participate in the virtual tour can see the tour guide and the surrounding environment, and can also ask questions to the tour guide through audio.
“Virtual tours are completely interactive and personalized. I recently met a tourist who wanted to show his girlfriend the hotel he stayed in during his last vacation in Melbourne, so I went to that hotel and let them watch it through a video. I You can even purchase souvenirs that you like for tourists." O'Sullivan said.
(Yuan Chunling)