Best Practice: Water-based Google Street View – Kis-Balaton

Location: Kis-Balaton Wetland, Kányavári Island, Hungary

Challenge:

The wetland area, accessible mainly by boat, was invisible on Google Maps and Street View, which reduced online discoverability for international visitors and limited awareness of its ecological and touristic value.

Solution:

Visible Tourism created a Street View water route by mapping the canoe trail with 360° panoramic imagery. This project integrated the hidden natural area into Google Maps’ visual ecosystem, enabling users worldwide to explore it virtually.

Virtual tour of the protected wetland area

Impact:

The immersive experience significantly increased engagement from Asian nature travellers, enhanced educational use, and supported sustainable destination management.

A 360-degree virtual tour along a bike path.

Adaptation Tip:

This approach can be applied to any scenic or protected area lacking online visibility. By capturing 360° georeferenced imagery—whether on water, trails, or heritage sites—destinations can become discoverable on the world’s most-used mapping platform, turning invisible assets into visible tourism value.