Nearly half of Brits identify as the ‘Chief Vacation Officer’ (CVO) in their friend group – the one who gets holiday plans out of the group chat.
A poll of 2,000 adults found there are six different personalities which make up a group trip, including the ‘Busy Bee’ who’s never free, the ‘Ghost’ who disappears until turning up at the departure gates, the ‘Snap Happy One’ who can’t let a moment pass without snapping a photo.
Then there’s the ‘Fluent-ish Friend’, who can dive into the local language with confidence, and the ‘Window Shoppers’, who scour social media for recommendations and share them with the group, but never actually book anything.
The research, commissioned by Samsung, to highlight the Galaxy Z Fold7 as the ultimate travel command centre thanks to Multi Window functionality, found 64% believe no trip would get off the ground without the role of the CVO.
From starting the chat to choosing destinations, 53% said the CVO plays an undervalued role in making trips happen.
To shine a spotlight on their heroic work, Samsung has enlisted the support of Vicky Pattison, a self-confessed Chief Vacation Officer, to explore how travel planning has evolved from a simple booking task into a juggling act across apps and the pride she feels when the plans finally exit the group chat.
Vicky Pattison said: “It’s safe to say I love a holiday, and in my friendship group I am absolutely the lead booker and honestly, I thrive from the challenge.
“What starts as a simple ‘we should all go away’ somehow turns into you sorting dates, comparing hotels, collecting passport details and reminding people to pay you back and I secretly get a kick out of it.
“Everyone loves the holiday once it’s booked, but very few people see what goes into making it happen.”
The research found phones are an increasingly important tool for today’s CVOs, with 67% relying on them to help organise trips, from social media to discover new destinations (40%) and AI platforms to help build the perfect itinerary (42%).
Despite this, 46% still struggle to keep track of the group chat, bookings, and everyone’s preferences in one place.
This planning juggle is no longer confined to laptops or kitchen tables either, with Gen Z turning everyday downtime into personal-admin windows, as 24% admit to planning a holiday during their lunch break or on the commute.
The biggest holiday planning challenges for those who go on group trips included choosing where to stay (27%), collecting everyone’s passport details (11%) and finding dates that work for everyone (42%).
When asked what could make this task easier, 37% would value being able to view flights, hotels, and messages side by side.
While others cited being able to see multiple apps at once (38%), easy multitasking between chats, bookings and itineraries (34%), and a large screen for comparing options more easily (32%) as the device features they would find most useful when planning a group trip.
More than a third (37%) agreed having better tools to support holiday planning would encourage them to organise more trips abroad.
TOP 10 HOLIDAY PLANNING CHALLENGES:
- Finding dates that work for everyone
- Agreeing on a budget everyone is happy with
- Choosing where to stay
- Making decisions when no one else will commit
- Dealing with people changing their mind repeatedly
- Getting everyone to reply in the group chat
- Chasing people for payments or deposits
- Comparing too many destination options
- Aligning on activities so everyone feels the trip is worth it
- Deciding on flights or travel times
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
