ONE of the region’s top tourist attractions is geared up to give potential visitors a guided tour – before they even leave home.
The Helicopter Museum, on Locking Moor Road in Weston-Super-Mare, is using the latest technology to provide a 360-degree virtual tour on its website – and the good news is that it hasn’t cost a penny.
Portishead company 360VirtualTours.co.uk picked out the museum as its first-ever chosen charity and has created a number of fully-interactive tours free of charge, including hangar tours and even an internal cockpit shot.
The museum, the largest of its kind in the world, is also planning to use the virtual tour as part of its Education Outreach Programme, with its Education Officer and volunteers able to show the virtual tours on projector screens as part of their presentation when they visit schools, clubs and disabled groups in the area.
Matthew Evans, who runs 360VirtualTours.co.uk, explained: “Since the start of the company it was always an aim to be able to set aside some of our time each year to help some of the fantastic local charities we have in Somerset.
“The Helicopter Museum was an obvious first choice for us as it is such a well-loved local attraction.  The tours we have created will not only help to draw visitors to their website but will also give less able-bodied visitors the chance to experience being inside a helicopter cockpit.”
The museum’s General Manager, Lee Mills, added: “We were overjoyed by the donation of this virtual tour and immensely impressed by both the quality and professional production.
“The virtual tour will take pride of place on our website to give potential visitors to the museum a taste of what they can see here and at the same time it clearly demonstrates the size and scale of our world famous collection – something that standard still imagery simply cannot accomplish.”
http://www.helicoptermuseum.co.uk