180LA & Expedia Make Dream Adventures Come True in 360 Degrees

Expedia.com, one of the world's largest full service online travel sites, today launched a campaign with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to raise awareness and funds through a first-of-its-kind, immersive virtual reality campaign.

The 'Dream Adventures' initiative features four patients from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Each child was asked to share their passions and dream travel adventure, which ranged from playing with monkeys and running with horses to digging for dinosaurs and swimming in the sea.  

Working alongside 180LA, Expedia dispatched a team of employees, each armed with a 360° camera and live-streaming technology, to Argentina, Miami and Playa del Carmen, Mexico, to bring the dream adventures to life. 

The teams captured the experiences in real time, and live footage was projected onto the floor, walls and ceiling of a four-wall Virtual Reality installation at the hospital. This was the first time 360 filming, projection mapping and live streaming technology were used together. Through this innovation, Expedia was able to bring a truly immersive travel experience to the kids of St. Jude. Each child was able to explore, direct the actions of the on-site trekker and immerse themselves in the experience.

This campaign supports the Expedia mission, which is to bring the power of travel to as many people around the world as possible. Videos that captured these experiences and links to donate Expedia+ points are available here.  

As a long-standing partner of St. Jude, Expedia is committed to leveraging its global reach to benefit the beloved institution. The daily operating cost for St. Jude is $2.2 million, which is primarily covered by individual contributors. Thanks to generous supporters and the dedication of partners like Expedia, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Expedia is leveraging the campaign to encourage its customers to donate their Expedia+ points directly to the hospital. The Expedia+ rewards program confers points to travelers based on each flight, hotel, car or activity they book across Expedia channels. Typically, Expedia+ points can be redeemed for travel. Now, Expedia+ points can be converted to a monetary value.