The Selection Process
There are no costs involved to participate on 360CityGuide except for the cost of the production of images and a performance based fees via Expedia. This is a key element in the nomination process as we want small business with focus on fine design and architecture to have an equal opportunity with major brands to participate.
When we start up a city or destination production we will stay there for a very long time. Our photographers will fly in 4 - 6 times per year to each location and they usually stay for a few weeks each time. We produce many properties at each destination and the images can be used on their own website, on Expedia and other websites. Our images can be used forever and wherever at no extra cost. Our photographers will nominate the best of all they encounter in each city.
Our nomination and selection process is straightforward and transparent. We welcome the unique and unknown as well as well known luxury brands. We help our target audience to find a shortlisted selection to help them decide where to spend their time.
In a city or destination with hundreds of high quality hotels it is not always easy to find the very best. With new properties being built and many fine old properties being refurbished every year it is a challenge to select the best at any given time. We rely on recommendations from local experts as well as from our own target audience, the experienced traveller.
Everyone can nominate a candidate such as a hotel, convention & banquet venue, restaurant, boutique, museum or an attraction. We often get nominations from Tourist & Convention Bureaus as they know what's new and exciting in their city. Managers at properties that have invested time, effort and money on refurbishment can nominate their own candidate and travellers can nominate a candidate that they fall in love with.
We look at every nomination together with our Advisory Board in each city we produce in. The Advisory Board is based on 4-8 highly experienced people from the hospitality sector, with in dept knowledge of what is going on in the city or at the destination. They help us to find the right venues but it is our job to boil down the list of candidates to a final selection. We want a combination of well known luxury brands and small unknown venues with a unique local touch.
We only highlight a maximum of 20 partners in each category as our target audience wants a shortlist to choose from. This list will change over time as new candidates with improved qualities outrank low performers.
New cities are added regularly and a decision to start production of a new city is always based on the presence of an Advisory Board and a desire to showcase the city or destination.
At most destinations we also have a Lead Partner. This can be the local City Tourist & Convention Bureau or a strong local player in the hospitality sector with several different high quality properties or venues. This Lead partner is automatically a member of our Advisory Board and can influence the direction of the 360CityGuide in that city.
The Lead Partner is important as they often take the initiative helping us to start up in a new destination. With photographers at location this will be beneficial for all venues in the city as they will be able to purchase our 360-images at a fraction of the standard prices.
All venues, large and small, have the right to use the special project price list as long as the productions can be coordinated to be produced at the same time as we produce for the 360CityGuide project. This way a small hotel, museum or restaurant can benefit of the same high quality 360-images at the same high volume prices as large hotel chains with hundreds of properties.
This is our way to contribute to the cities we produce in.
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