Updated at 11.50pm
GOOGLE HAS KINDLY agreed to lend its Google Trekker to Fáilte Ireland for the next three months so it can capture some of the country’s remotest beauty spots to add to Street View.
The Trekker is a wearable backpack with a camera system on top designed by Google to reach tricky places the Street View car can’t get to. It can be walked through pedestrian walkways or trails on foot and automatically gathers images as it goes.
Fáilte Ireland is getting access to the device through Google’s Trekker Loan Programme and over the next few weeks employees will be capturing some of the more remote tourist attractions in the hope of encouraging more people to go see them.
Included in this will be some of our remote islands like Inishbofin, Achill, the Blasket islands and Dun Aengus on Inish More. Other well known destinations include Sliabh Liag, Mizen Head and Croagh Patrick.
Fáilte Ireland will also be borrowing the Trekker to capture many of the highlights of ‘Ireland’s Ancient East’, including the narrow streets of medieval towns, the grounds of stately homes and iconic attractions such as Newgrange. The specialised camera will also be used to capture parts of the Dublin experience, particularly many of its scenic walks in places such as Howth Head, Sandycove and the Royal Canal.
Daragh Anglim, Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Digital pointed out that six out of ten visitors to Ireland last year cited the internet as an influence when choosing the country as a destination.
Three quarters of visitors told us that they use the internet to plan their itinerary here before arriving. The use of Google Trekker is therefore a welcome addition to Fáilte Ireland’s significant engagement with digital and social media to promote Ireland.
When finally captured and uploaded, we hope that millions worldwide get to explore very beautiful and attractive images of some of our remotest parts through Google street view. We also hope that these images inspire many viewers to subsequently make the crucial decision to come over here to see the real thing.
The footage captured will be processed by Google and made available early next year.
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