This morning, Belgian Google Street View was launched in the Town Hall in Brussels. VisitBrussels also presented its application based on this technology. With this application, the Tourist Department in Brussels offers tourists an online presentation of the seven most important tourist attractions in the district of the Brussels capital.

With the launch of visitbrussels.be, it was possible to discover the location of certain tourist attractions selected by VisitBrussels via an integrated Google map. However, visitors to the site will have a completely new experience as of today. As a result of the integration of Street View, visitors to the site will now be able to discover the not-to-be-missed places in Brussels there. Whereas visitors would previously have been directed to a map with possibly some photographs, they can now view the whole area around the destination.

Street View has been integrated into all pages on which Google maps were already used. A whole page has also been devoted to Street View, where visitors to the site can immediately discover the seven most important monuments in Brussels: http://visitbrussels.be/bitc/front/streetView/displayTop.do.

“Nowadays, people are planning their journeys online to a greater extent. The online sale of train and air tickets is increasing. Hotel bookings are now also more often being made in this way. Today’s tourist books his journey from behind a screen in his own environment. As a result of this technology, he can also discover a bit about Brussels from that location. He can as it were go for a walk in the neighbourhood of his hotel in order to discover whether it meets his expectations”, explains Patrick Bontinck, CEO of VisitBrussels. “As a modern Tourist Department, we are very aware of how this can help us to promote our destination, so we are very happy to be able to offer this technology on our website as of today.”