Travel Weekly Blog

Many and splendid are the contents of Thomson new media director Graham Donoghue's crystal ball, but TW Blog is a bit mystified by his latest prediction.

Donoghue reckons holiday shoppers will one day be able to experience a destination in "a Star Trek-style holodeck" before making a purchase. It would project sights, sounds, smells and temperatures from the destination into a room.

I can see a market for virtual destinations, but this model faces a few technical problems.

In the unlikely event that the technology is able to completely mask the walls and contours of the room, it would require the customer to stay stock still, since moving around would leave them suffering from simulator sickness and/or a bump on the noggin from one of the now-invisible walls.

Not very interactive.

In the more likely event that the technology is not able to fully mask the contours of the room, you're basically watching a 360-degree movie in smell-o-vision - and that sounds more like the Epcot centre circa 1985 than the future of retail.

I suppose we could just go back to those huge VR helmets (see pic) and the weird gloves. Technicalities aside, do readers think a 'virtual destination' would inspire them when booking a holiday?

Nathan Midgley, web producer