Virgin Holidays - Google Cardboard

Virgin Holidays - Google Cardboard

As the travel industry is always among the first to trial new technologies, we have featured experiments with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset by British tour operator Thomas Cook (‘virtual reality holiday’ ) and Marriott Hotels (‘Teleporter’ ) to drive consumer engagement in recent editions of this report.

On a similar note, Virgin Holidays at the end of December introduced Google Cardboard and Disney’s MyMagic+ technology in its physical retail stores to let customers test out holidays before making a purchase.

Google Cardboard is a smartphone virtual reality viewer that lets users use their own smartphone and a set of apps available through the Google Play store. The Cardboard can be fully homemade for a list of components provided by Google. Alternatively, Google has also produced a pre-prepared kit starting at USD19.99.

50 Virgin Holidays stores currently feature Google’s technology, which uses a mobile device inside a Virgin Holidays branded Google Cardboard mask, playing footage of the Riviera Maya in Yucatan, Mexico. Later in 2015 footage of Miami and Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando will also be available to view.

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic Director of Brand and Consumer Engagement Reuben Arnold said the airline is also

eyeing potential augmented reality opportunities as devices such as Google Cardboard become more common place among its passengers.” […] “We have to think about how can we curate that [augmented reality] experience and what content we can provide them in-flight to add to that experience.