Sorry, this is one of those posts that I’m writing because what I learned is totally fascinating to me and hope you, my dear reader enjoys reading the quirky facts.
So ITB Berlin, hoping to miss the morning rush hour, I arrived early this morning. It gave me a chance to wander around in quiet exhibition halls. By chance, I got chatting to one of stand designers, Brett, who runs TGP,on the Qatar airlines stand.
I never quite realised the thought and effort that goes into the design and build. This 200 square metre stand took months of design and building. Every element has significance:
- The light fittings are the same as those at Doha airport;
- the structural support is the same shape and colour as those of the parking in Doha;
- the colour are matched to those found on the aircrafts themselves… and the list goes on.
The stand showcases the business class and first class seat. I’m sitting in the business class seat, as I type this.
What can I say: I could flight long-haul in such a seats!
For entertainment I’d have a large screen, no squinting to see the details of the film I chose. Through the virtual windows, Brett’s company have designed animation to simulate the sights of Doha, London and Paris.
There are large interactive touchscreen displays showing all destinations and flight stats.
Uniquely, the stand has a holographic, interactive, gesture-controlled info point- something never been done before, apparently. It’s pretty cool, if you ask me!
The flashy stand also has smaller brothers for other exhibitions and this larger stand will rotate been ITB and ATB for the next couple of years… So all the expense and time that went into it is not just for one occasion, it is used again and again.
It’s been utterly fascinating talking to Brett and enjoying some Qatar hospitality on the stand. I hope we get to fly Qatar airlines soon and experience the real thing.
Nicola, my friend at Globalmouse travels has been to Doha, Qatar airline’s base, and reckons the airport is the most fun airport for kids in the world.
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