The recently relaunched OTA reports Thursdays from 9-10pm is the busiest hour of the working week for searches on its website – dubbing the period ‘Shapps O’Clock’.
 
Data last month claims Thursday evening increased by 87% compared to the same 9-10pm slot for the rest of the working week. 

Cook’s head of commercial product, Emma King, said: “People are clearly keeping an eye on the latest travel announcements, with over 21% of all weekly visitors searching for holidays on Thursdays.”

Boris Johnson’s national address on Monday evening also triggered a surge in online visitors, Cook said.
 
According to the company’s data, pre-pandemic, holiday searches would rise significantly in the weekday evenings after work, from 6pm until late evening. 

However, now that many people are spending more time at home, there is no evening spike – the volume of Brits now browsing for breaks is largely the same from 10am through to 10pm. 

Cook’s three busiest hours of the working week for holiday searches: 

1.      Thursday, 9-10pm: 1.32% of weekly web visits 
2.      Thursday, 8-9pm: 1.31% of weekly web visits 
3.      Thursday, 5-6pm: 1.26% of weekly web visits 
 

Cook’s three busiest hours of the whole week for holiday searches: 

1.      Sunday, 12-1pm: 1.54% of weekly web visits 
2.      Sunday, 3-4pm: 1.53% weekly web visits 
3.      Thursday, 9-10pm: 1.32% of weekly web visits