Virtual baggage lightens load

Tourists could travel luggage free and rent clothes, according to those behind an Australian pilot project. Photo / Martin Sykes

BRISBANE - Lost baggage, long queues, invasive security checks and fighting heavy suitcases could one day be a thing of the past, a tourism conference heard.

A new Zero Baggage pilot project under which travellers would rent their holiday wardrobes from clothing stores, freeing up the need to pack, was flagged at the national Tourism Futures Conference on the Gold Coast yesterday.

Zero Baggage chief executive Catharine MacIntosh told business and industry representatives the new way of travelling would save airlines money, travellers time, be more sustainable and reduce safety fears at airports.

Instead of fighting with overstuffed bags, travellers would log on to the Zero Baggage website and pack online, dragging and dropping new or pre-loved clothes into a virtual suitcase, MacIntosh said.

When they arrived at their hotel, their selection would be waiting for them, with rental prices at just a fraction of what the clothes cost new. When the holiday was over, the clothes would be cleaned and used again.

MacIntosh said the idea would work especially well with business travellers who could keep a Zero Baggage locker with their clothes at hotels they regularly stayed at for work.

A pilot project will run in Toronto, Canada, from November next year.

- AAP