Travel agency lets you book based on Instagram pics

Women like shopping, paying via mobile phone
By Hannah Edensor


VisitScotland has gone the way of millennials and created its own version of a travel agency – based on Instagram images.

Scotland’s tourism organisation curated a pop-up agency, which features a floor-to-ceiling screen on which Instagram photos of Scotland are shown.

Based on these stunning shots, travel agents craft Scottish holidays based on travellers’ favourite photos of hotels, attractions, and experiences.

The #ScotSpirit Instagram Travel Agency is popping up in London from 18 – 21 October 2017, and actually gives keen adventurers a chance of winning a brilliant break for two to the Highlands.

As VisitScotland wrote recently, “To create you dream holiday in Scotland, simply select your favourite images from our state-of-the-art #travelinspo board and we’ll create your perfect itinerary based on your chosen photos”.

Per Campaign Live, the space will also feature a VR headset for customers enabling them to experience various destinations and landmarks in Scotland.

It’s a new approach to selling travel that comes off the back of how French rail company, Thalys, trialled selling travel using smell.

Serving up something called, ‘Scents of the City’, Thalys got a bunch of curious travellers attending a pop-up travel agency, sniffing their way through 64 different parts of Europe. Visitors could sample 16 specially-blended aromas, each from four cities: Paris, Brussels, Cologne and Amsterdam.

Each scent was enclosed in a tube, arranged by colour and with its own number, which referred to a specific site. Visitors were invited to sniff around, before the numbers revealed on large maps which part of the city they were inhaling.

The pop-up travel agency, created by French agency Rosapark, ran from May 12-14 in Brussels, with Thalys cleverly picking the smells based on where their rail services could take them.

On top of that, travel agencies around the world have taken unique spins on the traditional brick-and-mortar store with a few clever marketing techniques such as bunking in with Starbucks or operating from a wine bar/lounge.

Charlie Smith, Director of Marketing at VisitScotland, told Campaign Live, “As a destination, we are keen to develop and deliver our powerful national story, giving a respectful nod to the past, but portraying a modern, welcoming and dynamic Scotland.

“We’re proud of the fact that VisitScotland has the biggest tourism Instagram account in Europe, with more than 370,000 followers.

“People love our feed not only for the stunning photographs – often taken by our visitors – but also because they discover the immense and unexpected variety of things they can see and do in Scotland.”

For your own slice of inspiration, check out these cool pics from VisitScotland’s Insta page:

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