Back in October, Kuoni, the luxury holiday company, designed an antique style map which they displayed in the Bluewater Shopping Centre. It wasn’t just any old map but an interactive one which at the touch of a button would give a puff of aroma relating to the country chosen. Kuoni developed the map so that ten chosen destinations came complete with a fragrance to evoke sense memories of a place visited past or give a sensory taster of what might be to come in a future trip…

I think this is a fascinating piece of advertising because by using the senses they invited people in to something real rather than just a thought! Clever eh! As an actress I use sense memory in my techniques on stage too. Sense memory is such an important part of acting because the touch, look or smell of something can provoke a memory to transport you back to another time and give you the same feelings so that you can portray them on stage. It’s very powerful!

I really like that Kuoni have used this technique in their advertising, which is more a piece of art really, because it shows such thought and care has gone into it. They don’t just wham, bam, thank you mam with an over powering proposition but rather gently entice you and tempt you. It’s rather classy wouldn’t you say and actually, I guess as a luxury holiday company it would be a cut above…

Here is a picture of the interactive map!

Kuoni was keen to find out if the sense of smell could be an inventive new way of defining the travel experience – I think they’re absolutely on the right lines because of course it can. The innovative map, aptly named ‘Scents of Adventure’, hopes to inspire a totally different way of connecting with their customers’ and I think it’s really interesting!

So interesting in fact that when I heard they were running a creative writing competition to find the scent of one more destination I literally couldn’t resist! The country they need to find a fragrance for is the Maldives and the prize, a trip to the very same – oh how amazing would that be! I simply HAD to enter! So here goes:

I’ve never been to the Maldives, I would so dearly love to go there,

The sand and the sea of the islands, a sunshine break without a care!

I can’t speak from any experience, but I bet I can guess what it’s like,

A tiny aeroplane landing to a turquoise beautiful sight!

I imagine there to be palm trees, where I could sit and rest and read,

A drink in one hand, a bowl of fruit on the sand, bet you wanna follow my lead?

I wonder what it would taste of, sitting there in the sunshiny light,

Fresh like the air, sweet like coconut, everything deliciously bright!

I’d soak up the glow of the holiday, the glow I think the Maldives would give,

I’d charge my batteries up with vibrancy and good food of fruit and fresh fish!

It would be sad to leave this holiday, the one on which I’ve never been,

But at least I’d have the memories and the pictures of all that I’d seen!

And then I’d walk past somewhere special and an aroma would waft out the door,

It’d transport me right back to my villa on stilts, the one with the fish in the floor!

I’d smell a beautiful fragrance, that’d remind me of the holiday we’d loved,

The smell of jasmine and sea salt, I bet that’s the sense memory it gives off!

So that’s my entry, my poem which says exactly what I think the Maldives signature fragrance should be. I’ve never been there as I said so I’ll have to just win the competition to find out if I’m right but I imagine a sea salty crisp note with floaty, strong and flowery jasmine behind it for depth and good measure. The smell of sea salt is so fresh, so like the pictures of the Maldives that I’ve seen and jasmine is such a pretty and delicate smell, floral but strong and lingering too and the flower reminds me of the islands because they too are delicate but strong!

Oooh! Hope I win! The pictures on Kuoni’s Maldives page are fabulous!

This is my entry into the Kuoni Creative Writing Competition to win a holiday to the Maldives.