South African Tourism (SAT) plans to take over two bars in Manchester and London next month, inviting customers to watch a short film on the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift.
The 'five-minute holiday’ film transports the viewer on to the side of Table Mountain, where they experience what it’s like to abseil down the sheer cliff, with 360-degree views of the sea behind and city in the distance.
Viewers are then absorbed into other adventurous scenes, such as shark cage-diving in Cape Town, kite-surfing, paragliding and feeding elephants, before relaxing into a bar at Johannesburg’s Neighbourgoods Market.
The first bar takeover will take place on 24 April at Corbet Place, Brick Lane, London, followed by NoHo, in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, on 30 April.
As part of the experience, two lucky winners will get to visit the country for real, courtesy of KLM, which is giving away two pairs of tickets to South Africa, departing from either London Heathrow Airport or Manchester Airport. Bar visitors just need to register their contact details on the day with the ‘Brand Warriors’ on site to be entered in to the competition.
Steve Ludnow, commercial director, Events International Group, a member of the TUI AG group of companies, said: "People trying Oculus Rift will be blown away. It’s a great use of creative technology by a tourist board and we are confident it will encourage more people to visit South Africa."
Juan Herrada, UK manager of marketing and communications for SAT, added: "We want to surprise the UK travelling public and Oculus Rift is the ideal partner for us to reach a young, tech-savvy market. This is the first time Oculus Rift and binaural sound have been combined to create a unique, immersive holiday experience for the UK public."
The ‘five-minute holiday’ campaign will kick-start a year of consumer activity from SAT, with further initiatives rolling out in the summer and run-up to Christmas.
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