Italian
Avete mai desiderato visitare le isole Faroe?
Ora potete, senza nemmeno alzarvi dal divano.
Il remoto territorio danese, a 320 chilometri dalla terraferma più vicina, sta portando il turismo virtuale al livello successivo, offrendo un'esperienza online unica che è stata pubblicizzata come la prima nel suo genere.
Dopo che la pandemia di COVID-19 ha costretto l’arcipelago a vietare i visitatori almeno fino al 1° maggio, i faroesi hanno escogitato un piano per mantenere viva l'industria del turismo.
In un video promozionale, il direttore di Visit Faroe Islands Guorio Hojgaard sostiene che è un'alternativa per coloro che hanno annullato o posticipato i loro viaggi.
"Now that we don't have any tourists in the Faroe Islands, we have a lot of extra time on our hands. So, we thought that we would get those of you who couldn't visit as planned and everyone else a chance to visit the Faroe Islands through us."
Il tour virtuale consente di esplorare la pittoresca catena di isole situate tra Islanda e Norvegia, letteralmente attraverso gli occhi di un residente.
Tramite cellulare, tablet o PC, gli utenti avranno la possibilità di controllare i movimenti di una guida turistica in tempo reale.
Le guide turistiche sono dotate di una videocamera montata sul casco e cammineranno, correranno e salteranno a comando con il semplice tocco di un joypad.
Levi Hanssen, il responsabile dei contenuti e delle comunicazioni di Visit Faroe Islands, afferma che è un tour come nessun altro.
"The difference between our tours and other V-R tours is that on our tours, you can actually control a person, you control the direction of the person. If you ask them to go left, they go left. If you ask them to jump, they jump. If you ask them to run, they run. So, you're sort of steering this person and deciding what you want to see and where you want this person to go."
I tour giornalieri in stile Mario consentono agli utenti di esplorare il territorio a piedi, in kayak, a cavallo e persino in elicottero.
Lanciato il 15 aprile, il programma durerà almeno fino al 25 aprile e sarà trasmesso sul sito web dell'ufficio del turismo, su Facebook e Instagram.
C'è stato un vivo interesse per i tour, con quasi 50.000 utenti che hanno partecipato ai primi tour di quattro ore riempiendo le posizioni in pochi secondi.
Ogni utente è in grado di controllare la guida turistica per un minuto, a condizione che non la metta in pericolo.
Hanssen afferma di aver avuto un’esperienza rischiosa.
"Someone tried to make me jump in the ocean, I sort of caught on to that. And I, you know, I'm glad I didn't follow the lead on that. But it is, it's very surreal to know that you're walking around here in the Faroe Islands being controlled by someone on their sofa or even on the toilet, who knows where they are, whatever they're doing back in a completely different country."
Le guide turistiche esperte forniscono anche commenti su ogni luogo, rendendo informativo e meno noioso l'isolamento.
I tour precedenti hanno visitato attrazioni locali come la seconda maggiore città, Klaksvik.
È l'ultima trovata del crescente settore turistico del territorio, che ha acquisito notorietà dopo aver lanciato Sheep View 360 nel 2016.
Il progetto prevedeva di collegare le telecamere alle pecore, scattare foto panoramiche delle isole e caricarle su Google Street View.
Finora, il territorio ha registrato meno di 200 casi di COVID-19 e nessun decesso.
Gli organizzatori sperano che i turisti faranno una visita quando la pandemia sarà finita, una volta che avranno avuto un assaggio di ciò che le Isole Faroe hanno da offrire.
English
Ever wanted to visit the Faroe Islands?
Now you can, without even getting off the sofa.
The remote Danish territory, 320 kilometres from the nearest mainland, is taking virtual tourism to the next level, offering a unique online experience that's been touted as the first of its kind.
After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the region to ban visitors until at least the 1st of May, the Faroese devised a new plan to keep the tourism industry alive.
In a promotional video, Visit Faroe Islands director Guorio Hojgaard says it's an alternative for those who cancelled or postponed their trips.
"Now that we don't have any tourists in the Faroe Islands, we have a lot of extra time on our hands. So, we thought that we would get those of you who couldn't visit as planned and everyone else a chance to visit the Faroe Islands through us."
The virtual tour allows you to explore the picturesque chain of islands located between Iceland and Norway, quite literally through the eyes of a local.
Via a mobile, tablet or P-C, users will get the chance to control the movements of a tour guide in real time.
Tour guides are equipped with a helmet-mounted camera and will walk, run and jump on command at the touch of a joypad.
Levi Hanssen, the content and communications manager of Visit Faroe Islands, says it's a tour like no other.
"The difference between our tours and other V-R tours is that on our tours, you can actually control a person, you control the direction of the person. If you ask them to go left, they go left. If you ask them to jump, they jump. If you ask them to run, they run. So, you're sort of steering this person and deciding what you want to see and where you want this person to go."
The Mario-esque daily tours allow users to explore the territory on foot, by kayak, horse and even helicopter.
Launched on the 15th of April, the program will run until at least the 25th of April and be broadcast on the tourism board's website, Facebook and Instagram.
There's been keen interest in the tours, with almost 50,000 users participating in the first four-hour long tours and filling slots in seconds.
Each user is able to control the tour guide for one minute - provided they don't endanger them.
Mr Hanssen says he's had a close call.
"Someone tried to make me jump in the ocean, I sort of caught on to that. And I, you know, I'm glad I didn't follow the lead on that. But it is, it's very surreal to know that you're walking around here in the Faroe Islands being controlled by someone on their sofa or even on the toilet, who knows where they are, whatever they're doing back in a completely different country."
The knowledgeable tour guides also provide commentary about each location, making for an informative isolation boredom-buster.
Previous tours have visited local gems such as the second-largest city, Klaksvik.
It's the latest stunt by the territory's growing tourism sector, which gained notoriety after launching Sheep View 360 in 2016.
The project involved strapping cameras to sheep, taking panoramic images of the islands and uploading them to Google Street View.
So far, the territory has recorded fewer than 200 cases of COVID-19 and no deaths.
Organisers are hoping tourists will pay a visit when the pandemic is over, once they've had a taste of what the Faroe Islands have to offer.
Report by Jennifer Luu
