Virtual Reality & The Travel Advertising Industry: A Love Story

Virtual reality is one of the most booming state of the art technologies. Companies are merging augmented reality, with equipment in order to create for users a world where they can indulge and enjoy the pleasures of seeing something that is unattainable or distant, in the easiest manner, and in multiple dimensions. One industry specifically, can manage to make use of this trend, and this industry is the travel industry.
How does virtual reality affect the travel industry?
Airline companies are using virtual reality as a tool in order to drive sales, and increase travels through their airlines. For instance Visualize, a London based creative agency, has partnered with Thomas Cook, and installed Samsung Gear VR Headsets in ten different locations. When someone visits this location, they are able to be transported through this simple piece of machinery into New York, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Singapore, and so many more places. This gives the user a 360 degrees experience of this said country, transporting the individual from a mall to the top of the Rockefeller building in New York, within a matter of seconds. This builds enthusiasm and interest for the client, and hence drives sales, by encouraging clients to experience this view, and this country first hand.
The Emirates Airlines have been pioneers with this virtual reality experience, during the festival of literature, the airline showcased a state of the art virtual reality experience on board its A380, using Oculus Rift, and an inbuilt Google street view.
This concept is truly amazing, and state of the art, it allows for airlines to properly show the customer, the destinations they are headed to, and it is the futuristic and modernized manner of advertising. Virtual Reality is a means of storytelling, teleportation, fantasy, and imagination, and we are happy to see Virtual Reality being integrated into so many industries with wit, and intelligence.