Monday marked a minor landmark in online world Second Life (SL). The virtual world got its own travel agent, courtesy of STA Travel.
Why is this important? Isn't it simply another marketing gimmick? At first glance, yes it is. After all, Second Lifers can fly around their world for free. But at second glance it's not as baffling as it sounds. The travel industry has been reinvented by the internet several times over. Only a fool, the commercial thinking must go, would dismiss a growing phenomenon like virtual worlds.
Blake Ives (aka Blake Stringfellow in SL), a professor at the University of Houston who teaches students about Second Life commerce, says STA has spent a "nearly six-figure dollar commitment" on developing its Second Life presence.
It's serious business but then so is Second Life. The growth is typical of internet booms: one million users last summer has leapt to 5.5 million today. The virtual world's first US dollar real-estate millionaire declared herself last December. Over US$1m is traded in the virtual world each day. At any one time 15,000 users are online. Gamers pay real dollars for game currency and buy and sell just like in real life (RL). Fortunes can be made and spent.
However, John Constable, STA's UK managing director, says they are not looking to make money by selling virtual travel in Second Life. "Our intention is not to replicate what we do in the real world. Virtual world users don't need a travel company to move them around. But what they do need is someone to provide a 'soft landing' as they enter Second Life for the first time."
The actual process of signing up to Second Life, designing an avatar and orientating yourself in your new world can be very tricky. There's a bit of a learning curve. STA wants to make it easier: simply click on the Second Life button on the STA website and get taken straight in and guided around. After a bit of handholding off you go, into the fray.
To make sure you come back to the STA landing zone though, STA has developed a chillout area and a free dorm room. Instead of paying (real money via PayPal) to rent a room or buy a plot to build elsewhere, those who come into Second Life through STA will have access to a dorm room for free. They can decorate it how they like, store their stuff and sleep, meet other newbies, eat and entertain in it - like a virtual backpackers' hostel.
It's about "giving customers access to a unique social space where they can become part of this fast-growing social community," says Constable. Put it that way and it makes perfect sense, sort of.
Of course, it won't be about branding and marketing forever. "Looking forward" there are commercial opportunities on the horizon, says Celia Pronto, STA's head of marketing. But what they are no one seems too be sure. Sorting out the plane tickets for Second Lifers who want to meet in RL seems one obvious avenue.
And Constable suggests, "As they are exploring our island, they may become inspired to travel in the real world." If that's the case, then expect the rest of the world's travel agents to be coming to a virtual world near you soon.
