Travel companion.
Virgin Holidays.
The gig.
Virgin Holidays wanted to explore what the future of travel could look like if AI were embedded across the entire holiday experience — before you book, while you plan, and during your trip.
The goal: to create a single, intelligent travel companion that could inspire, guide, and adapt your journey in real time.
The challenge.
Traditional travel planning is fragmented.
You research on one site, book on another, get scattered emails, and spend your trip jumping between apps, brochures, and Google searches.
Virgin Holidays saw an opportunity to create one seamless AI-driven travel layer — personalised, proactive, and deeply integrated with the traveller’s needs.
The Ideas.
AI Sherpa — an always-on, ChatGPT-style travel guide that:
Before you book: Helps you plan your trip, compare destinations, and suggest hidden gems.
Before you fly: Curates tailored excursions, restaurant bookings, and special events.
During your trip: Sends real-time notifications for weather changes, local happenings, and alternative plans.
In-flight: Offers tailored entertainment, trip previews, and cultural insights about your next stop.
Post-trip: Organises memories, suggests future trips, and rewards loyalty.
This vision was tested using a Deep South USA holiday concept — blending road trip freedom with curated local experiences.
My role.
Brought in as a conceptual and visionary designer, I collaborated with the guys from Hidden Strategy teams to imagine and craft the future of travel experiences. My focus was on:
Conceptualising the vision of how AI could support travellers end-to-end — from planning and booking to in-trip guidance and tailored entertainment.
Designing flows and interfaces that felt seamless, intuitive, and aligned with Virgin’s existing brand guidelines, ensuring everything looked authentic and on-brand.
Prototyping and visualising ideas so stakeholders could see, feel, and believe the future experience.
The outcome: a bold concept that’s now been added to Virgin Holidays’ project roadmap for 2025 delivery.
Year: 2025 (Future Vision Piece).
The Design.
Clean, immersive UI with bold imagery and travel storytelling at the centre.
Journey mapping from “daydreaming” to “on-trip” phases to keep the traveller emotionally connected.
Interactive prototypes showing mobile, in-flight, and real-time AI-adjustable experiences.
Virgin brand language married with a futuristic tech feel.
My trip builder.
Personalised in-flight entertainment.
Tailor-made experiences.
Deep South playlist.
Travel AI agent.
The tech.
AI Chat Interface: ChatGPT-style natural conversation for planning and live recommendations.
Dynamic Planner: Syncs flights, hotels, tours, and personal events in a single itinerary.
Proactive Notifications: Weather, traffic, event changes, or exclusive offers pushed to mobile and in-flight screens.
Cross-Platform Experience: Works across mobile, inflight seatback, and destination kiosks.
Smart Book & Go: One-tap booking for excursions, restaurants, or transport.
The outcome.
Virgin Holidays has placed the AI Sherpa Travel Companion in its 2025 project roadmap for delivery at the end of the year.
The concept is being developed as a flagship innovation project with cross-team collaboration between product, operations, and marketing.
The results.
Stakeholder excitement led to immediate inclusion in strategic planning.
The concept is now influencing future Virgin digital experience strategy.
Positioned as a category leader in personalised, AI-powered travel.
