[caption id="attachment_32137" align="alignleft" width="1000"] John Carney testing VR headset at Nemours Estate[/caption]

By KEN MAMMARELLA
Special to Delaware Business Times

Rehoboth Beach, Trap Pond State Park and Nemours Estate star in a new virtual tour promoting Delaware to out-of-state residents.

The three-minute video, created for the Delaware Tourism Office, is available for immersive viewing at the Delaware Welcome Center Travel Plaza on I-95 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. It's also available at www.visitdelaware.com, where visitors can watch it as a video or use their own headsets to explore Delaware in 360 degrees.

"One of the most important ways the state tourism office works to drive out-of-state visitation to Delaware is by keeping on top of the changing landscape of technology," Delaware Tourism Director Liz Keller said in a release. "Staying at the forefront means adopting new technologies, listening to customers and engaging with them."

The video showcases three uncrowded outdoor sites "“ one in New Castle County and two in Sussex "“ under bright sunshine, blue skies and fluffy clouds. The tour immerses viewers in strolling down Rehoboth Beach, canoeing through Trap Pond State Park, and walking the grounds of Nemours Estate.

Gov. John Carney said the effort relates to the state government's efforts to grow the innovation and technology sectors.

"With the launch of this new virtual tour, the Delaware Tourism Office is embracing new technologies when marketing the state's "˜Endless Discoveries' at time when, as a state, we are working to grow innovation and the high-tech sector to move the economy forward," Carney said.

Tourism is already strong: A record 9 million people visited Delaware in 2016 and contributed a record $3.3 billion to the state's economy, according to the latest Value of Tourism report.

"The tourism industry is vitally important to Delaware," Delaware Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock said. "The sector employs almost 43,000 people thanks in large part to the hard work and ingenuity of small business owners and entrepreneurs, who are a backbone of the state's economy and who help make the visitor experience here so incredible."