The RAI Virtual Tour has been launched to support organisers who are looking for the most suitable location for their next event. Exhibitors and visitors can also use the application to help them prepare for an upcoming event. The tool offers a comprehensive 360-degree image and interactive 3D map of the entire complex and is intended for organisers, exhibitors and visitors from the Netherlands and abroad.

All 178 areas of the Amsterdam event location are now available for the virtual viewing. In addition, the app offers bespoke options for organisers, exhibitors and visitors to enjoy a virtual experience of a conference or event. It includes some 250 360-degree photographs, 210 other photos, 140 factsheets and 178 descriptive texts explaining the options for the different spaces in various layouts. An interactive 3D map allows the different floors of the RAI complex to also be explored.

The RAI Virtual Tour offers much more than an app like Google Maps, providing users with a customised virtual experience of RAI Amsterdam’s giant complex. “Our customer journey research has identified a clear demand for a simple online guide to our premises,” comments Maurits van der Sluis, COO RAI Amsterdam. “In addition, this impressive tool offers a solution for the planned location visits which are now impossible to attend in person due to the current circumstances. The Virtual Tour enables RAI Amsterdam to continue doing what we have done for the past 125 years – bringing people together and inspiring them in both the physical and online worlds.”

The new application has been developed together with the Belgian company Youreka, renowned specialists in 360-degree experiences and virtual tours. Additional functions such as wayfinding and webinars will be added later this year.

RAI Amsterdam is very busy preparing for the moment when it can reopen its doors while taking into account social distancing regulations. While already under development long before the coronavirus pandemic, this innovative application has been launched at the ideal time. It also now includes an extra function: existing organisers, exhibitors and visitors can already make virtual preparations in advance. New organisers will be assisted in their search for the most suitable event location.