Parkdean Resorts has submitted an official application to Unicode Consortium for the creation of a Caravan Emoji, as part of a campaign to stand up for British holidays and tourism businesses, and ensure representation for the millions of people who stay in caravans or holiday lodges each year.
The final design for the emoji submission was chosen by operators from Parkdean Resorts’ 66 holiday parks at its Annual Management Conference earlier this year, and submitted to Unicode, along with a detailed submission stating the case for why a caravan emoji needs to be introduced. Should this campaign be successful, Parkdean also plans to lobby Unicode for the introduction of further staycation-focused emojis, such as a bucket and spade, or a sandcastle.
Steve Richards, CEO of Parkdean Resorts, said: “Caravans have been a vital part of the fabric of British holidays for decades, so it’s crazy that in 2022 we still don’t have an emoji. More than 3.5 million people visit our parks each year, and a huge proportion will message friends about it, so it’s only right that they should have an emoji that shows their love for their holiday.”To support the application, a media campaign will run across digital, social and out of home channels with the hashtag #ParkdeanCaravanEmoji, with existing emojis communicating the call to action in a fun and relatable way.
The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit organisation “devoted to developing, maintaining, and promoting software internationalisation standards,” making sure that symbols work across all computers and other devices. The organisation also has control over creating emojis for smartphones, and selects new emojis based on submissions, which present the case for the inclusion of new emojis with evidence for why each one is essential.
