The Bahamas is set to gain comprehensive digital exposure through an extensive Google Street View Coverage Project, spearheaded by World Travel in 360, a leading specialist in 360-degree tourism promotion, in collaboration with the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation. The project will see several street view-equipped vehicles with mounted camera systems roaming roadways throughout the islands to capture more than 2,000,000 geolocated 360-degree images for showcasing the country on Google Maps.

The Bahamas Street View Coverage for Google Maps is proposed to capture imagery of more than 3,729 miles (6,000 kilometres) of key tourist areas throughout the country’s more than 700 islands, including 16 major islands whose towns, beaches and other attractions are visited by millions of in-coming travelers.

With the imagery capture, The Bahamas will join more than 100 countries and territories currently featured, in whole or in part, on the Street View function of Google Maps, which enables users to explore settings around the world via 360-degree images. The function is among the most popular features of applications on Google Maps, enabling users to effortlessly plan visits, observe attractions, pinpoint restaurants and hotels, and more using the convenience of technologies including mobile devices, tablets, and computers.

Among a host of popular tourist areas proposed to be photographed through the Street View Project are Downtown Nassau and Montagu Beach in Nassau; Port Lucaya Marketplace and Peterson Cay National Park in Grand Bahama; and Marsh Harbour, Green Turtle Cay and Cherokee Sound in The Abacos.

Street View is not for vacation planning alone, but benefits of imagery captured ranges from support for urban planning and emergency response, to historical preservation and environmental conservation. Special considerations are also being made to increase public awareness of the Street View Project locally in The Bahamas, as well as for the mapping of sensitive areas and special restrictions and permission for capturing images in public areas.