Luxury Escapes unveil world-first ‘Holiday Lab’, an interactive pop-up designed to help you find the perfect holiday
February, 2020. With the end of summer approaching, leading online travel company Luxury Escapes today unveiled the world-first Holiday Lab, a pop-up designed to prescribe Australians with a tangible remedy for their post-holiday blues.
Holiday Lab brings the Luxury Escapes approach to life in an interactive experience, where consumers complete a series of sensory experiences to distil down their personalised travel recommendation.
“The Holiday Lab offers visitors the chance to design their own dream holiday through a range of interactive and immersive sensory experiences, including touch, taste and sound” Luxury Escapes CEO Cameron Holland explains. “As consumers engage with each experience, their responses are tracked through a custom-developed algorithm which helps to build the consumer’s personalised travel persona and profile, offering them a tailored ‘remedy’ for post-holiday blues.”
“We’re known for our team of travel experts who spend months finding the best holiday experiences, personally testing them, and negotiating the best end to end travel experiences for our customers, and the Holiday Lab brings this curatorial approach to life in a fun, engaging setting” says Holland.
Luxury Escapes commissioned research into the contributing factors behind post-holiday blues, which are referenced in the Holiday Lab design:
Over 40% of Australians report feeling less positive after a holiday has ended and over 60% report feeling a ‘sense of dread’ on returning to the office
3 in 4 Australians say they sleep better after a holiday
98% of Australians say having a holiday to look forward to affects their mood positively
Over 70% of Australians say they need more than 5 nights away to feel rested
1 in 2 Australians want three or more annual holidays to feel rested during the year
A common tactic for getting over post-holiday blues is to book another holiday
The Holiday Lab has been designed with the input of leading Australian doctor, mindfulness expert and founder of Mindful in May, Dr. Elise Bialylew. “For those who are fortunate enough, travel can be a powerful way of boosting mental health; time off work to engage the brain in novelty is a potent way to re-energise, recharge and return to daily life with greater focus and enthusiasm” Dr. Bialylew says. “The Holiday Lab concept offers a playful way to explore what time off looks like for every individual and it was a pleasure collaborating with the Luxury Escapes team to offer a creative solution at a time of year where we’re naturally seeking out our next trip.”
Alongside offering bespoke holiday recommendations, the Holiday Lab has also been designed to offer a reprieve from the everyday bustle, with free giveaways, events and holidays to be gifted each day. “It’s an opportunity for everyone to get a mini escape from their everyday and plan their next adventure” says Holland.
The Holiday Lab was brought to life by experiential agency Graffiti. “The Holiday Lab is a beautifully surprising, interactive, and personalised experience” Kerrie Spaargaren, Managing Director for Graffiti Experiential says. “It’s a genuine approach to consumer engagement, which is something we really believe in at Graffiti, and a rare opportunity to create a brick-and-mortar experience for Luxury Escapes customers who traditionally interact with the brand online. We’re really proud to have worked collaboratively with Luxury Escapes on concepting, executing and delivering this one-of-a-kind store.”
Holiday Lab will run from February 27 - March 7 at 421 Bourke Street, Melbourne and is open 11am-7pm daily. The Holiday Lab is free and open to the general public without bookings required.
