VISIT BIG SKY
Residents and visitors now have more accurate and complete data using Google Street View thanks to the efforts of Visit Big Sky and the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce to update the outdated tool.
As new projects in the community have been completed, the tool, which hasn’t been updated since 2015, became increasingly outdated, omitting major landmarks such as the Wilson Hotel and the Montage Big Sky, and potentially causing major issues for users.
Google Street View’s technology adds an extra dimension to a destination’s internet presence, allowing people to explore landmarks, natural wonders, and step inside places such as museums, stores, restaurants, or small businesses from their computers or smart phones. The program can be used in Google Maps, the Street View gallery, or the Street View app. Google maps with satellite views is still out of date but VBS is currently working on updating the flyover data to improve google maps.
“We’re grateful for the state funding for this project to give our guests and potential visitors the ability to visit all of Big Sky virtually,” said Brad Niva, CEO of Visit Big Sky and the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce. “We want our visitors to have the best possible customer experience before they even set foot in the destination and this will certainly inspire people to visit and help with trip planning.”
VBS felt the update was important and it was a major goal of Niva’s because Google Street View is a great platform to give visitors and residents the information they need, allowing the destination to be transparent and show customers all that Big Sky has to offer. Street View’s content comes from two sources —Google and contributors, enabling people everywhere to virtually explore the world.
