2015 and 2016 were terrible years for tourism in Europe. Terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels deterred people from visiting as tourists. As 2016 drew to a close, travel numbers on the Thalys train network were the worst they had been since the launch of the railway in 1995. The brief was to inspire people to travel again with a positive message.

Consumers enter a travel agency like never before and experience an installation made up of 752 tubes filled of iconic scents from Thalys train networks destinations: Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne & Brussels. People then move freely from tube to tube experiencing different scents and then matching the number on the tube with the destination it matches on the maps provided in hand or against the wall. The scents ranged from fresh baguette, latex of a sex museum, honey from the top of the Paris Opera House, to even a coffee shop in Amsterdam. Thalys hostesses were on hand to book directly online with discounted tickets to the destination that people wanted to go and explore more. A total sensory experience that allowed people to create their own images of our destinations and what awaits them at the end of their Thalys voyage.

We researched hundreds of iconic scents from the destinations on the Thalys network and incorporated them into a temporary travel agency. The scents, created by Drom Laboratory in Paris, were soaked into beads that were housed in 752 unique metal tubes. Each tube had a number on it, which corresponded to a destination on one of four maps of Paris, Cologne, Amsterdam and Brussels. People could interact with the installation, find the scents that they liked, and then go to the maps and discover which cities and destinations the scents corresponded with. The scents ranged from ‘cut grass’ to promote the FC Koln football stadium in Cologne, to ‘latex’ to promote the Erotic Museum in Amsterdam, to ‘fresh baguette’ to promote the up and coming east district in Paris. Hosts were onsite to help people book promotional tickets.