A new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that 45% of online American *****s have taken some sort of virtual tours of another location online. That represents 54 million *****s who have used the internet to venture somewhere else. On a typical day, more than two million people are using the internet to take a virtual tour, according to the report.

Some of the most popular virtual tour destinations include museums, tourist and vacation locales, colleges and prep schools, real estate, historical exhibits, parks and nature preserves, public places such as the White House and the Taj Mahal, and hotels and motels.

According to the report, the spread of broadband connections has made virtual tours easier and encouraged those who create tours to create richer tour experiences through streamed tours. Some 60% of those who have broadband connections at home and 62% of those who have broadband connections at work have taken virtual tours.

Unlike many other internet activities, virtual tours are not the province of young internet users. 52% of younger Baby Boomers have taken virtual tours, compared to just 37% of those in Generation Y.

Those who take virtual tours are also highly educated: 58% of the internet users with college or graduate degrees have taken virtual tours. In addition, tour takers are slightly more likely to be urban than rural.

54 million online Americans have taken virtual tours.

Full Research Report - http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_...tours_2004.pdf!