Shoots, Tweets, Then Leaves!

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When you take yourself away on travels do you really immerse yourself in local culture and delve into every detail of local life, or is it a more Shoots, Tweets then Leaves approach whereby you snap a selfie at a famous landmark then head to the nearest pub?! Well if it’s the latter then sadly you are not alone – as almost half of Brits now adopt a social-media-centric approach to sight-seeing – visiting a famous landmark, taking a picture, posting it to their page – then leaving just minutes later.

New research has discovered that modern tourists now visit places with the sole intention of taking pictures to share with friends and family on social media, then leave without really exploring their surroundings.

According to the data by Vueling Airlines, a staggering 46% admit they have taken a selfie at an iconic landmark and left just minutes later – with a further 25% admitting they have travelled somewhere just to take a picture to post on social media.

In fact – we’re so keen to brag about our holiday exploits, almost one in ten of us show off our first holiday snap within an hour of arriving, while a further 11% share within the first 12 hours of the holiday. I must admit that on a recent trip to Bruges I was so keen to quip I was #InBruges on Twitter I began to draft the Tweet in the Eurostar over!

The study also revealed that the average Brit takes 88 pictures on holiday, uploading 22 of these to Instagram, Facebook and other online sites.

When it comes to iconic landmarks – the Eiffel tower was revealed as everybody’s favourite spot to take a selfie (39%) followed by Barcelona’s Sagrada De Familia, Wiltshire’s Stonehenge, and the Colosseum in Rome.

The research also revealed that the average Brit takes a photo within 13 minutes of arriving at a landmark, with 15 percent posting it on social media straight away – or as soon as they have a WIFI signal! And the average holiday maker will hang around for just 38 minutes after taking and sharing a photo, according to the report.

When it comes to picking a holiday destination – 44% 0fr travellers actually admitted that they first consider how picturesque the scenery is, while 17% look for iconic landmarks they can be photographed in front of.

The Top Ten European Selfie hotspots are:

1.            Eiffel tower
2.            Colosseum
3.            Tower of Pisa
4.            Stonehenge
5.            St Marks Square
6.            Ibiza Old town
7.            Sagrada de Familia
8.            Las Ramblas
9.            Brandenburg Gate
10.          Palacio Real

  • Emily Cleary

    After almost a decade chasing ambulances, and celebrities, for Fleet Street's finest, Emily has taken it down a gear and settled for a (slightly!) slower pace of life in the suburbs. With a love of cheese and fine wine, Emily is more likely to be found chasing her toddlers round Kew Gardens than sipping champagne at a showbiz launch nowadays, or grabbing an hour out of her hectic freelancer's life to chill out in a spa while hubby holds the babies. If only!

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