Combining virtual reality (VR) tech with expertise, Deben’s new Travel Ready-branded shop, near its existing Woodbridge store – and Cruise Ready brand – aims to reclaim ground in an increasingly strong online cruise market.
Founded in 2012 by Lee Hunt and wife Sarah, Deben’s staff have more than 100 years of travel industry experience between them. Two new staff have already been appointed, with the team set to grow to nine once a manager is found for the new store.
Hunt said Deben, which is a TTG Top 50 agency, would pick up the keys to the former building society on April 9 ahead of a planned late-May launch. The new store will be fitted out by local builders and carpenters and will offer foreign exchange.
“Our business is at the stage where we have no more space to expand,” said Hunt. “But we didn’t want to move to a new, larger site.
“When this location came up, we saw it as an opportunity to focus on a strong aspect of our business – our ocean and river cruising product.
“It’s one of the fastest-growing markets. We’ve seen a double-digit increase in cruise sales year-on-year since we launched and real growth in expedition cruising.
“I think lots of businesses are doing cruise well online, but not so much in a retail environment. We want to do something about that.”
Deben invested in a number of VR headsets last year and Hunt said he hoped the new store’s tech focus would inspire cruise lines to work on their VR offering.
“Cruise lines are the perfect market for VR,” he said. “I would really like to build this relationship. We need to encourage more of it. The headsets have gone down really well. But while we can show people destinations like Rome and Barcelona [using VR], we can’t always give them the VR experience of a ship, which is a shame. It’s all about the ship and life onboard.
“[VR] is a real point of difference on the high street, I really haven’t come across much use of it. It will give us an edge.”
