It’s not every day that you find an elephant in Street View, or for that matter get to visit most of the new soccer stadiums in one day. But now people can do both with Google’s newly released Street View images and 3D models in Google Earth.
Seven of South Africa’s new football stadiums, including Soccer City in Johannesburg, Peter Mokaba in Polokwane and Moses Mabhida in Durban are now available to explore from pitch-level in 360 degrees, both inside and out.
Street View images are also available of around 27 South African towns and cities including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth, helping tourists get to know the local area or navigate their way to their hotel. Top tourist attractions can now be explored in detail too – there’s dramatic coastal scenery in the Cape; the urban buzz of Soweto, home to Nelson Mandela; or the world renowned Kruger National Park, to wander at your leisure.
Julie Taylor, Communications Manager for Google South Africa, said: "This is a first for Africa, and a really exciting development for South Africans, who can now explore their country in new ways, whether a local neighbourhood in the city or a scenic costal route they've never seen. But it's also going to be a massive bonus for the tourism industry, especially with all the international visitors arriving in South Africa. Tourists will be able to take a look at sights and stadiums before they get here, while the rest of the world can enjoy the view from their mobile phone or PC."
Roshene Singh, Chief Marketing Officer at South African Tourism added, "We're delighted that Street View has arrived in South Africa. Whether you're looking at Cape coastal scenery, the Blyde River Canyon, or at our state-of-the-art new soccer stadiums, Street View is going to be an excellent tool for the tourism industry at large."
Another triumph for the country is that South Africa is the first country to boast its winelands mapped out on Google Street View with Bouchard Finlayson, De Rust, De Wetshof, Fairview, Jordan, Hamilton Russell, Klein Constantia, Meerlust, Morgenster, Rustenberg, Vilafonté and Warwick all so far showcased on the online application.
SATSA has also urged its members to add their product listing to another of Google’s tools, Google Maps, in order for tourists to be able to locate them during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. To register your business visit www.google.co.za/showfootball.
