A group of young Chinese visitors are on board the Fuller's catamaran the Ipipiri which has ventured out into the bay for the first overnight cruise of the season.
Being young, and perhaps being Chinese, each of these eight tourists has their head down staring at an iPhone. They're practically ignorning the magnificent sea views and it was only when another passenger tapped one of them on the shoulder and pointed to a school of dolphins frolicking in the forward bow wake did they look up.
They rushed to the railing and excitedly pointed the iPhones at the sea-faring funsters, then rushed back inside again to look down at their iPhones and to push things up, down and sideways on the little screen. They continued doing this through dinner and totally missed the stunning sight of the sun commencing her nightly descent into the sea. Are virtual vistas the future of tourism? Mike Murphy, Sales and Marketing Manager for Fuller's Great Sites, says technology allows tourists to instantly tell family and friends what you're doing and it's a world-wide phenomenon, particularly among the Gen Ys. Moreover, it has advantages.
"The young are glued to their iPhones and through that kind of social marketing they influence other people to travel here in the future," he says. In other words it's vicarious advertising that a company doesn't have to pay for and for that reason what's on offer from our tourism operators needs to be enthralling if it's being remitted via satellite. The potential publicity value of virtual vistas going viral can't be bought.
