Street View was first launched on the African continent in South Africa, just before the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Some highlights from Street View in South Africa include imagery of dozens of cities and towns, the World Cup soccer stadiums and heritage sites such as Vilikazi Street in Soweto and the Kruger National Park.
The original Google statement says that the search giant is adding new South African wineries to the most comprehensive database of Winelands imagery in the world. "This will include leading wineries such as Vergelegen,Thelema Mountain Vineyards and Villiera." Street View offers 360 degree street-level images taken by the Google cars and trikes, "allowing Google users to view and navigate through wine estates, vineyards, historic buildings and gardens," the statement says.
According to Wine Magazine, the Google Winelands imagery enables users to embark on a virtual tour of a wine farm before visiting it. The initiative is useful to South Africans as well as the international wine market in general. Overseas buyers will be able to view South African wine farms an interactively which, wine farmers hope, will entice them to visit the farms in person or buy online. About 30 wine farms are currently listed on Street View. Speaking to Google, South African wine connoisseur, Juliet Cullinan says: "Wine-lovers all over the world can now visit the estates of some of our leading wine domains using Street View, plan their own wine routes and buy online."
Read the full article on www.winemag.co.za.
Read Google's original statement.
