Horizon Holidays and Travel Money’s flagship store in Morrisons at Birmingham’s St Andrews Retail Park was opened by chief executive Hamza Waris last week, and will seek to use new technology to bring the travel buying experience firmly into the 21st century.

NFT – non-fungible token – business cards will allow clients to interact and communicate with the brand around the clock in a variety of different ways, while stores will be equipped with VR goggles allowing clients to try out a destination or cruise ship with their feet still firmly on British soil.

The agency has joined the Advantage Travel Partnership, levering Advantage’s managed services offering, and will open a second Morrisons-based branch "very soon". The brand will market itself to Morrisons’ customer loyalty database and its more than 100,000 employees.

"Hamza comes from the famous Waris family, who are Midlands travel entrepreneurs – he is following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps who’ve owned travel businesses in this part of Birmingham for decades," said consultant retail director Craig Davidson. "Hamza is excited to see if his partnerships with Advantage AMS and Morrisons can grow to 50-plus branches over the next five to 10 years."

Advantage business development manager Emily Shannon said Horizon was an "exciting" new proposition "with technology at the heart of its concept". "They are looking at growing significantly in the next few years and I look forward to supporting them and watching them go from strength to strength," Shannon added.

When tapped on a smartphone, Horizon’s NFT business cards will offer clients immediate access to a variety of ways to engage with the brand, Davidson explained. These range from booking a traditional in-branch appointment or dialling the agency’s 24/7 contact centre to accessing social media channels spanning WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok or opening up the fully bookable Horizon Holidays website.

"Whatever way customers want to communicate with us, we have a channel," said Davidson.

Demand for agents ’stronger than ever’

Passers-by, meanwhile, can pop into the store to speak to the team and take advantage of Horizon’s virtual reality booth, offering them the opportunity to experience destinations and cruise ships before they travel.

Birmingham airport aviation director Tom Screen said the launch of the Horizon brand proved there was still great life in travel retail.

"Despite various past predictions that their days were numbered, we’re now in 2023 and the demand for high-quality travel agents’ services is stronger than ever, especially from customers planning once-in-a-lifetime trips," said Screen. "We look forward to welcoming Horizon’s customers at BHX."

Details of Horizon’s second branch and new additions to its management team are imminent, the agency added.