Zoom video-conferencing has rocketed since lockdowns were imposed around the world but can you guess which travel destinations are the most popular backgrounds among users? Jenny Southan reports
According to data from JPMorgan analyst Sterling Auty, at the beginning of April there had been a 340 per cent increase in daily active users of Zoom video-conferencing for remote working and socialising compared to compared with the end of December 2019.
A fun quirk of the software allows people to change the background behind them from their living room or home office to a virtual reality image on to which they are super-imposed. This means that wherever they are, it can look as if they are working from paradise.
According to Google search data, searches for holiday-themed Zoom backgrounds are up going through the roof as people dream of being somewhere abroad. The most popular Zoom background destination is the Caribbean, while safari landscapes, mountain views and cityscapes are the most popular scenes.
Ten Most Popular Zoom Background Destinations
1. Caribbean +9,900%
2. =Australia +9,800%
2. =Maldives +9,800%
3. =Vietnam +9,700%
3. =New Zealand +9,700%
3. =Sweden +9,700%
4. Philippines +8,800%
5. =Canada +8,500%
5. =Brazil +8,500%
6. USA +8,100%
7. Ireland +7,200%
8. India +6,500%
9. Portugal +5,000%
10. Spain +4,900%
Most Popular Zoom Background Scenes
- Safari +9,900%
- Mountain +9,800%
- Cityscape +8,100%
- Beach +7,800%
- Waterfall +6,600%
- Sea +6,400%
- Rainforest +5,000%
- Field +4,000%
- Desert +3,200%
- Lake +1,500%
This trend is also something that luxury travel company Kuoni has tapped into by creating 14 backgrounds of their top destinations available for anyone to download. These include 12 images and two dynamic videos.
A spokesperson from Kuoni says: “Just a few days into lockdown we started to hear about people using our destination images as backgrounds to their video calls, to at least momentarily transport them to somewhere else in the world.
“Coupled with the increase in online searches for travel-inspired video call backgrounds, we wanted to release a collection that hopefully gives people a slice of their dream holiday whilst they’re at home.”Other travel companies are jumping on the Zoom background bandwagon too – you can download images of beautiful villas from One Fine Stay, private island locations from Cayo Espanto, over-water villas in the Maldives from the Coco Collection, and luxury hotel rooms from Viceroy. They even have a Spotify playlist to really set the scene.
Online marketplace onbuy.com has also investigated the trend. It surveyed 1,422 workers across Europe to discover the most used tourist attractions as background images on Zoom.
It found that Times Square in New York is the most-used tourist attraction related background image on Zoom, followed by the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum and the Taj Mahal.
Apparently, 57 per cent of users said the ability to change the background image was their favourite aspect of Zoom.