Chinese luxury travel and lifestyle brand Zanadu has opened what it claims is not only the world’s first virtual reality travel concept store but also the biggest travel shop in China.
The Travel Experience Space will offer 360-degree virtual reality travel experiences and digital points of sale.
Visitors to the store can experience luxury resorts through the VR experience on a headset or via their smartphone, and then book the trip through the Zanadu web site or App.
The store also includes 20 interactive destination cubes, from where shoppers can browse through digital books which highlight Zanadu’s inventory in the destination. The digital books include links through to Zanadu’s WeChat account, from where the trip can be booked either directly or with the help of an agent.
At the same time as opening the shop, Zanadu has announced another funding round, following on from a USD 12 million investment at the beginning of the year, led by Chinese internet giant Tencent. The latest backer is Prometheus Capital, which is investing an undisclosed sum in the business.
Finally, it is also launching an upmarket travel magazine, Zanadu Travel Life. The idea is that each page in the magazine will have a QR code which, when scanned, connects through to a booking page.
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