Sunwing opens Jamaican themed travel CONCEPT store in Yorkdale Mall

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Sunwing Travel has teamed up with Yorkdale Mall to bring an updated and more immersive version of the travel store. Focused on Jamaica as a destination, Sunwing unveiled the concept store earlier today. Featuring a menu by celebrity Chef Lynn Crawford, as well as Jamaican delicacies, Blue Mountain Coffee and a variety of experience stations, the store brought Jamaica to the Yorkdale Mall.

Yorkdale Mall: Chef Lynn Crawford and Sunwing Travel's Andrew Dawson

"Retail is evolving very, very fast. Travel is no exception," said Sunwing Travel group COO Andrew Dawson. He added that the direction is evolving beyond the old travel agents with the brochures and posters on the walls. "We want to create an experience. We want to immerse the shopper with the sights, the smells, the sounds and the tastes of Jamaica."

Travel booking has become the domain of online services and search engines which can offer users a wider range of affordable, up-to-the-minute deals. Sunwing Travel, the leading company for all-inclusive travel believes it's CONCEPT store, which is expected to provide immersive experiences for the next two months.

Developed with the help of Bricks and Matter, the concept is open, airy and features an interactive travel table, which is a large touchscreen that helps customers drill down on desired travel options and also helps Sunwing Travel gather customer information.

The travel board is quite ingenious. It uses QR-code enabled cards to store a user's selection of resort and activities, this information can be saved and shared to friends or family members. It is also a more attractive way to navigate and visualize locations and resorts.

Jamaican Tourist Board Philip Rose said that the travel table represented the future of their industry and that it was a great trip tuner, or trip filter.

Along with friendly travel counsellors, the space features an interactive, multi-user touch table guiding customers through a short series of questions to help find the ideal resort and even gives them the chance to win a free vacation, courtesy of Royalton Luxury Resorts.

“The Sunwing CONCEPT Store is a one-of-a-kind interactive retail experience that will offer consumers a chance to ‘test-drive’ their vacation before booking the real thing,” says Stuart Morris Vice President, Retail for Sunwing Travel Group.

Digital screens showcase ‘Sunwing Experiences’ and visitors can watch footage of popular excursions or even try a kite-surfing simulator.