Global traveller trends for peak season success

Three global traveller trends you should know for peak season success

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What travel trends are we seeing across the world in 2023? Our regional leaders shared the latest insights at our annual Click. event. Here’s what you can do to prepare for today’s travellers in peak season

The world has changed. Although travel is happening again, the pandemic has reshaped how we travel and what we care about. We’ve had some turbulent times, but our 2023 Travel Predictions research showed that people are determined to travel this year. 

68% of global travellers say that investing in a vacation is a top priority, while 73% feel more optimistic about travelling this year compared to 2022. But how are travellers behaving in different parts of the world? How will the reopening of China impact the travel and hospitality industry? And what should partners do to respond? 

Booking.com leadership, partners and industry experts came together at Click. 2023 recently to share the latest news and insights. In the main stage session ‘Meet today’s travellers’, Booking.com’s regional leaders shared the latest traveller behaviours they’ve identified. Here’s what you should know as peak season approaches.

1. The share of international bookings is growing

Carlo Olejniczak, VP and Managing Director EMEA, called out a few emerging trends. In the first few months of 2023, we noticed that international travel was on the rise. There are promising signs that this may continue further into the year.

“We expect more Americans to travel to Europe, taking advantage of a very strong dollar. We also expect more Europeans and Americans travelling to APAC, because it was hardly possible to do so over the past two to three years.”

Robert Ahearn, VP and Managing Director Americas, advised that from a targeting perspective, partners should think about where their visitors are coming from: “It's a real opportunity to think about those top inbound or origin countries, in terms of how you might position yourself.”

Tip: Use Country Rates to increase your bookings by targeting travellers from specific regions.

2. Bookings for summer are happening much earlier than before

The second trend is a movement towards longer booking windows. Olejniczak called this “surprising”, saying that when we look at the current bookings for spring and summer, they’re happening much earlier than before – despite current uncertainties.

Flexible policies are key in securing early bookings – in fact, 80% of bookings made on Booking.com in 2022 were made on flexible policies. This is still a main trend in 2023: “Travellers are looking for flexibility; they're looking for ease of use.”

Tip: Consider setting up an Early Booker Rate Plan and adding flexible rate plans for your guests.

3. We’ll see the return of Chinese travellers

According to the World Tourism Organisation, Chinese travellers spent 255 billion US dollars travelling overseas outside of mainland China in 2019, which equated to 166 million trips. The travel industry has been waiting for them to return. “That's a lot of travellers that we've been missing all over the world,” Houldsworth said. “The US particularly has been missing the Chinese traveller, as has the rest of the world.”

We expect Chinese travellers to start to come back with the reopening of China. Based on our recent search data, the top 10 destinations for this demographic are Thailand, France, USA, Japan, Spain, Germany, Italy, UK, Hong Kong and Australia. While COVID-19 may seem a distant memory for many of these countries, it’s key to highlight what you’re doing to make stays safe, clean and comfortable.

Tip: Reassure your guests by highlighting your health and safety measures.

 What are our partners doing?

We spoke to our partners at Click. 2023 to find out what they’re doing to prepare for peak season. Here’s what they had to say.

  • Ana Plettenberg, Vice President at Luna Hotels & Resorts in Portugal, said that the chain has been working on renovations at their beach hotels to prepare for summer travellers. “We are confident that the season will go very well.”
  • Tyler Jacobs, Regional Manager EMEA, says that Viator is preparing for both advance and last-minute bookings. “We're working very closely with our operators to ensure that we have availability; that we have that inventory for our customers.”
  • Paolo Federico, Senior Vice President, Revenue Management & Distribution at Jumeirah Group in Dubai, said that when it comes to peak season, they try to be more aggressive on both the distribution side and availability side. He also echoed our travel predictions: “China's coming back. I think we'll see that by the end of the summer, the Asian markets will really grow significantly across the globe.”

 

Global traveller trends for peak season success
What other key trends should you watch out for?

Our panel discussion was packed with insights. Find out what else you can do to kick off the season and set yourself up for success in the coming months.

Watch the full recording

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Takeaway
  • People are determined to travel in 2023: 68% of travellers say investing in a vacation is a top priority, while 73% feel more optimistic about travelling compared to last year
  • The growing share of international bookings gives partners an opportunity to increase bookings by targeting travellers from specific regions
  • Despite current uncertainties, bookings for summer are happening much earlier than before. With 80% of bookings in 2022 made on flexible policies – a trend that is continuing in 2023 – it’s important to give travellers that extra peace of mind
  • 2023 is the year that Chinese travellers will return – it’s critical that properties highlight their health and safety measures for this demographic
  • Our partners also shared insights about what they’re doing to prepare for peak season