New global research from Booking.com, the global leader in connecting people with the most incredible places to stay, reveals nearly half of travellers believe the first 24 hours of a holiday set the tone for the rest of the trip (46%). While ‘traditional’ activities like unpacking bags (63%) and exploring accommodation (60%) were most popular, travellers are increasingly tech orientated; taking the ultimate picture for social media (27%) and going online to check restaurant reviews (26%) also ranked highly. These elements tend to happen before more traditional aspects; nearly half (47%) have their first holiday treat within the first hour, versus 54% who take pictures and 56% who check emails.
In response, and to celebrate World Emoji Day, Booking.com is creating new emojis relevant to the first 24 hours of a holiday to better equip the social world. Over 18,000 travellers were asked for their top five new emojis and Booking.com has brought these to life through illustrations as well as creating a light-hearted petition for Unicode to include them as part of their current list.
