Fujairah now available on Street View

Google announced today the arrival of Fujairah in Street View, a feature by Google Maps that will allow users to view and navigate 360 degree street-level imagery of major streets across the city.

Following Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah, Dubai, and Ajman, Fujairah is the fifth Emirate to be featured on Street View. 

Street View was launched in May 2007 and is already available in more than 3000 cities across 63 countries around the world. Google Street View imagery provides users with a rich, immersive browsing experience and allows users to explore world landmarks, view natural wonders, navigate a trip or other points of interest. 

Some of the main areas Street View users will be able to see in the city starting today are: the historic Fujairah Fort, a major historic landmark in the UAE as well as the city’s very own Shiekh Zayed Mosque. 

Ulf Spitzer, Global Lead for the Google Street View Program, said: “Millions of people around the world will now be able to see Fujairah on Google Street View in beautiful 360-degree imagery which highlights the city’s most exciting landmarks. Wherever we have launched Street View, we have seen a positive response, and we believe that people and businesses in the UAE and across the world can benefit on many levels from having this imagery available.”

HE. Engineer Mohamed Saif Al Afkham, Director General of Fujairah Municipality said "We, here at Fujairah Municipality have been working on different smart Government projects like “VRFujairah” and “Where” in order to provide interactive channels to the citizens and visitors to explore Fujairah and find any information of interest. These services have been using google maps APIs in providing the best possible experience to the users. With the enablement of Google Street View for Fujairah, the citizens and visitors will be able to have a new way of experiencing sightseeing  and doing business in the emirate of Fujairah. Google Street view will be an added channel to improve the user experience and facilities in sectors like Rentals, Real Estate, Construction, travel and tourism, and other investment opportunities. 

I feel great joy in having the emirate of Fujairah on Google Street view and thank Google for documenting the scenic natural beauty of the emirate, which is also known as the ‘Bride of the Emirates."

Street View Process

Street View imagery is gathered by a vehicle equipped with advanced imaging technology--- a camera mounted on the roof of a car that collects imagery and location data. After collection, the imagery is stitched together to create the 360° panoramic images that allows you to move around and explore locations as if you were there. To protect the privacy of residents in Fujairah, all faces and plate numbers are blurred before the imagery goes live. 

Benefits for users

Google wants to make the everyday lives of users easy whether it was previewing the location before moving into a new neighborhood or discovering the location of a restaurant or cafe.  Users can check out a restaurant or hotels before arriving or arrange meeting points. House hunters can save time not only by exploring properties they are interested in but also their surrounding area in advance which will make selection of property they are interested in more efficient. 

Benefits for businesses

Businesses can also benefit from the Street View technology by embedding Google Maps directly into their site, helping them to promote a hotel or increase awareness of a local store or restaurant. Tourists will instantly be able to check the surroundings of a hotel without taking a risk. 

Google is constantly improving its maps with tens of thousands of updates everyday throughout the world - from the latest road names, business addresses to public transit schedules and photos. Street View  provides easily accessible tools for flagging inappropriate or sensitive imagery for review and removal. Each image contains a link to a “Report a problem” tool where users can report objectionable images.