Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has announced a futuristic new sales tool for travel advisors: The The group has rolled out Samsung Gear VR headsets across all global sales offices and produced immersive 360-degree videos for over a quarter of its 94 hotels and resorts. Nearly half of the hotel portfolio will have VR videos available by January, with the full rollout to be completed in 2016.
Powered by Oculus, the Gear VR headsets enable travel advisors, meeting planners and potential corporate clients to virtually experience Shangri-La hotels and destinations around the world. They will be used as promotional and educational tools at tradeshows, industry events and sales meetings, transporting advisors to places such as the rooftop of Jokhang Temple in Lhasa or the Grand Ballroom in Kowloon Shangri-La, Hong Kong. Travel advisors will also be able to share the 360-degree videos with their customers via www.shangri-la.com/VR. The videos can be watched online on a 360-degree video player or, for a fully immersive experience, freely downloaded and viewed on a VR headset that uses the Oculus platform.