Booking.com Data Reveals a Tech-led Focus Gives Vacationers the Ultimate First 24 Hours

NEW YORK, July 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

New global research from Booking.com, the global leader in connecting people with the most incredible places to stay, reveals nearly half of travelers believe the first 24 hours of a vacation set the tone for the rest of the trip (46%). While 'traditional' activities like unpacking bags (63%) and exploring accommodation (60%) were most popular, travelers 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 vacation 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 vacation to better equip the social world. Over 18,000 travelers 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. To sign the petition, visit http://bit.ly/2uczTww

Read the full release here: https://news.booking.com/en-us/

About Booking.com 

Established in 1996 in Amsterdam, Booking.com B.V. has grown from a small Dutch start-up to one of the largest travel e-commerce companies in the world. Part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN), Booking.com employs 15,000+ employees in 199 offices, 70 countries worldwide.

With a mission to empower people to experience the world, Booking.com invests in digital technology that helps take the friction out of travel. At Booking.com, we connect travelers with the world's largest selection of incredible places to stay, including apartments, vacation homes, and family-run B&Bs to 5-star luxury resorts, tree houses and even igloos. The Booking.com website and mobile apps are available in 40+ languages, offer +1.3M properties, and cover +110,000 destinations in 227 countries and territories worldwide.

Each day, +1.4M room nights are reserved on Booking.com. Whether travelling for business or leisure, customers can instantly book their ideal accommodation quickly and easily with Booking.com, without booking fees, backed up by our promise to price match. Via our customer experience team, customers can reach Booking.com 24/7 for assistance and support in 43 languages, day or night.

For further information, contact Booking.com US Press Office;
Lauren Hanafin
lhanafin@hs-pr.com

SOURCE Booking.com