LANSING –
Pure Michigan will be hosting a live virtual tour of the Detroit Zoo July 17 to
provide a real-time vicarious travel platform with guide Tom Daldin, host of
the PBS show Under the Radar Michigan.
Pure
Michigan has once again partnered with Georama to highlight the Detroit Zoo,
which boasts 125 acres of naturalistic exhibits with 2,500 mammals, birds,
reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates representing 280 different species.
The tour
will start with a ride on the Tauber Family Railroad, which serves nearly half
a million passengers each year. Daldin will explore exhibits including the
Australian Outback Adventure, the African Grasslands, the Arctic Ring of Life,
the Cotton Family Wolf Wilderness and Dinosauria, on display at the zoo until
September 7. With the Detroit Zoological Society’s focus on conservation,
Daldin will also stop at the Holden Reptile Conservation Center and the
National Amphibian Conservation Center.
“Tom Daldin
takes viewers on an informative, entertaining journey, with Georama’s virtual
tour technology providing an inside look at the Detroit Zoo and its exhibits,”
said Dave Lorenz, Acting Vice President of Travel Michigan, part of the
Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “More and more, travelers are eager
for this type of first-person, interactive content and this is one way we can
reach new audiences to highlight the terrific attractions Michigan has to
offer.”
Participants
can login to michigan.org/live to watch and listen to the live video feed. The
platform allows two-way interactivity, where viewers from around the world can
ask questions or offer suggestions to Daldin on where to go and what to do
using Twitter or Facebook. Daldin will respond to questions and recommendations
received via Twitter or Facebook on camera.
“With our
PBS TV show, viewers have to email us about things we filmed months earlier,”
Daldin said. “But with these new Pure Michigan/Georama tours, folks can log on
live, ask questions, make suggestions, and actually be a part of the experience
in real time. It’s a lot better than being a fly on the wall, because in a very
real way, people are right there with me.”
More than
3,500 users watched the first ever live virtual tour of Mackinac Island in
June. Since then, more than 8,500 people have viewed the video of the tour,
representing 6 continents, 22 countries and 830 cities around the world.
Participants
can join the tour by logging on at michigan.org/live.
