Thomas Cook lets you experience your holiday in virtual reality before you buy
Virtual reality holidays come to the high street.
Key takeaways
- Virtual reality content is being trialled for the first time by Thomas Cook at a new concept store at the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.
- Customers will be able to ‘enter’ a virtual world where they can experience a 360 degree, stereoscopic tour of one of the company's Sentido resorts as well as the in flight experience from Thomas Cook Airlines.
- The first pilot will see customers enjoy a virtual tour on a developer’s version of Oculus Rift, a head mounted virtual reality 3D display, which features an ultra-wide field of view and low latency head tracking.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2016) 'Thomas Cook lets you experience your holiday in virtual reality before you buy', 311 Institute, 24 October. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/thomas-cook-lets-you-experience-your-holiday-in-virtual-reality-before-you-buy/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Virtual reality content is being trialled for the first time by Thomas Cook at a new concept store at the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent.
Customers will be able to ‘enter’ a virtual world where they can experience a 360 degree, stereoscopic tour of one of the company's Sentido resorts as well as the in flight experience from Thomas Cook Airlines.
The first pilot will see customers enjoy a virtual tour on a developer’s version of Oculus Rift, a head mounted virtual reality 3D display, which features an ultra-wide field of view and low latency head tracking.
The headset combined with the newly developed application will translate head and motion movements across to the virtual world as customers explore the resort, while bespoke audio and even the smell of a Sentido fragrance complete the experience.
With Oculus primed to transform the retail experience, Thomas Cook claims virtual reality will allow customers to take a sneak peek into the future of the high street travel agent.
“The technology advancements in virtual reality over the last 18 months have made it a real contender for playing a key role in changing the way we can showcase experience-based products to our customers, especially in the high street environment," said John Straw, the group’s digital advisory board chairman.
“We have a roadmap to move forwards into more testing which looks at how we integrate innovative content into a virtual experience for our customers across Europe.”
Future plans include offering customers the ability to experience New York City with Oculus later this year, tying in with the company’s strategic partnership with BrandUSA promoting America’s ‘Great Outdoors’ as well as Cook’s new US flights.
“This trial is an industry first which, using developing technologies, demonstrates our ambition to leverage digital advancements to further improve the customer experience – in this instance to enhance what our customers experience in retail today and in the years to come,” said Joanna Wild, Managing Director of the Thomas Cook retail network.
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Why does this matter?
Virtual reality holidays come to the high street.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 24 October 2016. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2016). Thomas Cook lets you experience your holiday in virtual reality before you buy. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/thomas-cook-lets-you-experience-your-holiday-in-virtual-reality-before-you-buy/
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