Marriott Hotels is aiming to revolutionise the concept of travel through a virtual reality (VR) project that ‘teleports’ users to some of the world’s most exciting destinations in a matter of seconds.

The company has teamed up with the visual effects company behind Hollywood blockbuster Gravity to create a fully immersive sensory experience featuring the Oculus Rift DK2 VR headset, wireless headphones and suite of onboard 4-D sensory elements.

During the Marriott Virtual Travel Experience, guests enter the phone-booth like ‘Teleporter’, where they put on VR headsets and headphones to be completely immersed in a virtual world. From there, they visit a virtual version of a new Marriott Greatroom lobby, and then virtually travel to a black sand beach in Maui, Hawaii, as well as to the top of London’s Tower 42. While ‘travelling,’ 4-D elements kick in – the feeling of the warm sun on skin, breeze in the hair, rumble of waves under foot and ocean spray in the face – to create a highly realistic experience.

“Marriott Hotels is pioneering the use of innovative technologies that will transform the guest experience in unprecedented ways,” said Michael Dail, vice president, Marriott Hotels Brand Marketing.

The Teleporter is currently touring eight select Marriott properties across the US, with plans to add more destinations based on user suggestions.

Innovators and investors are waking up to the possibility of Oculus Rift VR headsets for both the travel and attractions industry.

Following the March purchase of Oculus Rift by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for US$2bn (€1.5bn, £1.2bn), Attractions Management looked at what implications this could have for the attractions industry, with Zuckerberg predicting that augmented reality will become part of everyday life in the near future.

Meanwhile, the Foresight section of the 2014-2015 Attractions Management Handbook (p.10-21) identified the use of both VR and multi-sensory offerings as a key future trend for the attractions and wider leisure industry.