LONDON: Despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus that has restricted and halted most of the world’s Eid travel plans, citizens and residents in Saudi Arabia have taken advantage of Google Map’s street view in order to quell the growing need for online exploration and virtual tourism.
In Saudi Arabia, the top searched Eid destinations were Great Britain, the UAE, India, Egypt, Pakistan, Philippines, the US and Turkey.
“Since this Eid, a time when people would often travel for fun or to see family, is different for people around the world including Saudi Arabia, we’re glad that Google Street View can help Saudis and others to continue exploring some of their favourite destinations,” William Zaki, Middle East & North Africa Imagery Operations Manager at Google, told Arab News.
Through its maps and street view, Google has allowed users to virtually immerse themselves within their top searched destinations, and visit their attractions and touristic sites, all from the comfort of their homes.
“Over the past sixty days, we’ve seen Google Search interest spike more than 700% for virtual tours globally. With Google Street View, people are able to roam streets virtually, look inside museums and even walk around some historic sites across the world,” Zaki said.
“Google Street View was initially built to help improve Google Maps and has become a fundamental part of our mapmaking. However people have grown to love using the imagery to virtually immerse themselves in new and different locations.”
