Bring your travel and tourism experience to life
Technological advancements have transformed the international travel and tourism industry, empowering consumers with more flexibility, freedom and choice than ever before – all available at the touch of a button on their smartphone. Cutting through the clutter and making more personal and emotive connections has never been so important to make sure your brand is the brand of choice. Finding the right way to communicate with your customers in this market is key. The business opportunities for travel and tourism brands in creating immersive brand experiences face-to-face are second to none.
Live events can create powerful and unforgettable experiences around a new service or product launch, influence participation in a new campaign, trial a new proposition, educate your market or simply create a consistent event across multiple locations. What’s more, live events that offer an engaging brand experience work create headlines and content worth sharing.
Here are our top five travel and tourism campaigns, showcasing the brands that are getting it just right:
Virgin Holidays #flauntit campaign
Virgin Holidays encouraged visitors in UK shopping centres to ‘try on that holiday feeling’, offering changing booths and sets of some of the most iconic destinations. Passers-by were able to hear the sounds of waves and steel drums in the Barbados area or smell popcorn and try on ‘Mickey’ ears on the Walt Disney World set. Customers happily shared their experiences through social and a competition ensured data collection.
Virgin Atlantic’s surprise park bench
One the other side of the pond, Virgin Atlantic surprised New Yorkers sitting on a park bench with their in-flight experience. The unsuspecting public were treated to everything you’d expect in the air from air-hostesses offering a welcome drink and lunch to live theatre depicting much-loved movies.
JetBlue Airway’s Mint Room
JetBlue got people talking about its new cabin service Mint with a lounge located at Los Angeles’ outdoor mall. Airline crew treated visitors to their in-flight experience complete with lie-flat seats, inspirational cuisine and mocktails. A competition on social media ensured the experienced was shared. The results speak for themselves - around 30,000 people sampled the Mint Room.
Delta Air Lines & Hollywood
Delta Air Lines announced its new London Heathrow to Los Angeles service with Hollywood glamour at Canary Wharf. The live event featured a red carpet as its centrepiece, leading to a pavilion. A giant screen showcased the new in-flight films on offer. Visitors were encouraged to share their presence on the red carpet to win a screen test with casting director John Papsidera.
Marriott Hotels The Teleporter
Marriott Hotels let people see, feel and smell their holidays through The Transporter – travel booths located in New York where guests could use Oculus Rift technology to explore favourite destinations. They took ‘experiential’ to new levels with users able to sense heat, wind and moisture, recreating the holiday experience.
We have seen the benefits of live events in the travel and tourism market first hand, having done activation in roadshow trucks with Quantas and American Airlines. If you would like to talk about how we can create an immersive experience bespoke to your brand, get in touch today.