First Street View in Africa on Google Maps

8 Jun 2010

JOHANNESBURG: Google Maps on Tuesday, 8 June 2010, launched its first Street View feature in Africa. Detailed images of seven of South Africa's new football stadiums and 27 towns and cities around the country were collected over the last few months using the Google Street View Trikes.

First Street View in Africa on Google Maps

Both inside and outside stadium views and-360 degree pitch-level views are available for Soccer City in Johannesburg, Peter Mokaba in Polokwane and Moses Mabhida in Durban. Street View images are available in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth to help tourists get to know the local area or navigate their way to their hotel and find tourist attractions.

Bonus for tourism industry

Julie Taylor, communications manager for Google South Africa, said: "This is a first for Africa, and a really exciting development for South Africans, who can now explore their country in new ways, whether a local neighbourhood in the city or a scenic costal route they've never seen. But it's also going to be a massive bonus for the tourism industry, especially with all the international visitors arriving in South Africa. Tourists will be able to take a look at sights and stadiums before they get here, while the rest of the world can enjoy the view from their mobile phone or PC."

Roshene Singh, CMO at South Africa Tourism added, "We're delighted that Street View has arrived in South Africa. Whether you're looking at Cape coastal scenery, the Blyde River Canyon, or at our state-of-the-art new soccer stadiums, Street View is going to be an excellent tool for the tourism industry at large."

Elephants on Street View

William Mabasa, HOD: PR, Kruger National Park said, "Kruger is an iconic South African destination, and the launch of Street View in South Africa means that we can bring Kruger's spectacular wildlife to even more people around the globe. In fact, our elephants are the first elephants ever on Street View!"

To access Street View images, go to http://maps.google.com/, type the address into the maps search bar, or zoom into where you want to go, and drag the orange "Pegman" icon on the left-hand side of the map onto a blue highlighted street. To learn more about Street View, go to www.google.co.za/streetview. The site is available in English, isiZulu and Afrikaans.

Visit cities in 3D

Rustenburg, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, and Johannesburg can be visited virtually in 3D vis Google Earth. All 10 of the World Cup stadiums have also been modelled in 3D detail. To access the 3D imagery turn on the 3D buildings layer in Google Earth or switch to Earth View in Google Maps, and zoom in to the chosen destination.

To find a place to watch matches, go to Google Maps and look for the football icons - that tells you the location is one of tens of thousands of businesses who have added themselves to Google Places as a soccer-viewing location.

For more: