Air New Zealand has launched a new destination campaign which helps travelers find their ideal locations to visit in New Zealand by querying their activities preferences using Emojis.

On the airline’s dedicated EmojiJourney microsite travelers can click on an assortment of emojis which include outdoor activities, food, weather conditions and an alien for some reason. Actually, the alien marks “out of this world” locations.

The site is an animated Google maps page which allows visitors to zoom-in and learn more about the recommended places to visit including nearby activities. The airline is promoting the site on social media with the hashtag #EmojiJourney. And visitors can share their picks of New Zealand destinations with friends and family on Twitter or Facebook.

Air New Zealand general manager global brand and content marketing Jodi Williams says the campaign is intended to connect with anyone who loves using emojis to communicate needs and emotions, particularly millennials and Generation Z. She says:

“This is a fun and unique way to showcase New Zealand and our regions, from skiing at Ruapehu, rafting in Rotorua, or whale watching in Kaikoura, to the iconic Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth, or some of the country’s foodie hotspots. For example, if I wanted to head to one of New Zealand’s renowned wine regions I would enter the wine emoji.

“Our airline is committed to enhancing the customer experience and leading the way when it comes to innovation. #EmojiJourney will be progressively launched in our global markets in English, Japanese, German and Chinese and we hope this new experience will not only inspire visitors to travel to New Zealand but will also get Kiwis out exploring their own backyard.”

Twitter managing director for ANZ Suzy Nicoletti adds:

“Emojis have become almost ubiquitous on Twitter as everyone from politicians, to sports stars, to brands are using these expressive images to communicate. When you can convey emotion faster and in less characters than words, it’s no wonder they are so popular.

“With an average of 3.5 billion emojis used on Twitter every month, Air New Zealand’s #EmojiJourney campaign is a fun and easy way for Twitter users to discover the best of what New Zealand has to offer, with all the creativity we’ve come to expect from @FlyAirNZ.”

The only thing missing is that there isn’t a direct link to book a trip from the emoji site.

Norwegian Air was an innovator in this language interface, launching an emoji URL in 2015 which announced its route from Oslo to Vegas. In 2016, British Airways was first to use emojis for destination inspiration by letting customers express their preferences via their Facebook Messenger bot using the icons-based language.

In 2017, KLM came up with a way to help travelers at the destination find nearby points of interest using an emoji interface to send requests to the airline on Messenger using emojis. Using location tracking on the device, the airline would return with information on nearby shops, restaurants and facilities which met their needs by sharing a pin on a Google map.

And in 2017, Aer Lingus employed emojis on its Snapchat channel to engage with the audience. In a movie-night themed Snapchat Story, the titles of the films used in a quiz were encrypted as emojis. How many can you get right?

Airlines haven’t been the only ones in travel experimenting with modern hieroglyphs. In 2015, Aloft hotels encouraged guests to text emojis for room service.

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