Booking numbers may well have been record-breaking in January, but have there been any major trends in guest booking patterns so far this year?
We have examined the bookings made in January over the past two years by property location: UK & Ireland; Europe; and rest of world (ROW). Looking more closely at summer bookings
(holidays that will start during the peak months of July and August) and last-minute bookings (bookings with a lead time of 60 days or less), some interesting booking patterns can be spotted.
Forward planning v leaving it late
For properties in the UK & Ireland, Europe and ROW, summer bookings dropped in January 2015 compared with January 2014. Meanwhile, last-minute bookings across all three regions increased.
Short breaks
For properties across the three regions, guests’ preference for short breaks is increasing. Of the last-minute bookings for properties in Europe, for instance, only 47.4% of the bookings made in January this year were for a week or more compared with 70.4% last year.
Party size
Bookings by larger parties of three or more people have declined. For ROW properties, just 75% of summer bookings made in January this year were for parties of three or more compared with 100% last year; and 23.8% of last-minute bookings in January this year compared with 31.1% in 2014. Summer and last-minute bookings by larger parties at properties in the UK & Ireland were also down, although the reductions were much smaller. Interestingly, however, last-minute bookings for properties in Europe by larger parties have increased (66.7% of the bookings placed in January this year compared with 61.9% in January 2014). For summer bookings, the dip was only 0.4%.
The guests
Looking more closely at the guests, 92.1% of the total January bookings were made by guests from the UK & Ireland. And, a whopping 96.4% of these bookings were staycations, with 3.5% of these bookings for properties in Europe and just 0.1% for ROW properties. In 2014, 91.5% of the total January bookings were made by guests from the UK & Ireland and 96% opted to stay at home, with 3.9% booking properties in Europe and 0.1% elsewhere.
Regardless of who’s booking and for when, booking numbers are up. How do your booking
statistics compare?
