Dockyard entrepreneur Hilton Brown’s sightseeing tour careens down Bermuda’s winding roads at breakneck speed, pausing at spots such as Crystal Caves, Woodys or the Swizzle Inn.

An invisible driver shows a somewhat terrifying disregard for stop signs, sliding by a bus and dodging around a taxi on a narrow lane.

Although joyriders are urged to snap on their seatbelts, the reality is they never leave Dockyard, and no traffic rules are ever broken.

Mr Brown’s company Vista View Bermuda offers a virtual trip composed of drone footage. Viewers watch the film on the big screen, sitting in chairs that vibrate and shift to give things a realistic feel.

It can feel so real that people who suffer from motion sickness are encouraged to sit in chairs at the front that remain still.

The experience is meant to be a taster for Bermuda’s visitors, encouraging them to see some of the stops in the film. Locals will also see Bermuda from new angles.

Mr Brown started building a 12-seater theatre and smaller nine-seater theatre on property adjacent to Snorkel Park in Dockyard, back in 2019. He eventually sold the building to the Bermuda Land Management Company, from which he now leases it.

The challenge is getting the word out about the business.

“Too many people still don’t know about us,” said marketing agent Alicia Virgil. “We are still like new.”

A plumber by trade, Mr Brown wants to give Bermuda another activity.

“There is not enough to do,” he said.

His smaller theatre is aimed at children, showing age-appropriate films and providing 5D shades, mist and bubbles. He also shows films that make the viewer feel like they are on a roller coaster or flying in a fighter jet.

“We are open all year around,” Ms Virgil said, with seasonal hours during the quiet appearance.

“That’s the challenge with Dockyard; it gets pretty quiet in the off season,” she said. “So we are trying to come up with creative and innovative ideas to get the foot traffic here. The good thing is you can hop on a ferry in Hamilton and be here in 20 minutes.”

Vista View Bermuda hosts children’s birthday parties and corporate team-building exercises on the property.

“We have also had school groups come through for their social studies lessons,” Ms Virgil said. “It is a good way to get to know the island.”

When the first cruise ship of the season arrived last month the business offered a promotion. Sixty-seven people turned up, mostly cruise passengers, a few crew members and a local birthday party of nine.”

The next day 100 people attended a fun day organised by Vista View.

Mr Brown brought the equipment for the vibrating chairs in China, just before Covid-19 began. The chairs operate on a hydraulic system.

“The building was really built around the equipment,” Mr Brown said.

A technician from China was supposed to fly to Bermuda and help them install the seats. That plan was cancelled when the pandemic hit in 2020.

“When lockdown ended they did not have enough staff to spare someone,” Mr Brown said.

Without a specially trained technician, getting the seats working was a major headache.

“We had some local technicians coming up here nights,” he said. “They were putting in some crazy hours trying to get it working.”

They figured out the problem, but needed more knowhow to fix it. Then Mr Brown met a technician at a trade show.

“I brought him in and we got the machinery working,” he said.

Vista View is now looking to branch out and network with businesses at the points of interest in the film, potentially offering incentives to their clients to visit them.

They are also hoping to work more with more cruises and hotels.

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