The sun has set on summer, but the year’s biggest travel season revealed key insights looking ahead to fall and winter – specifically across European countries.

 

Demand Overview

The spotlight this summer was undoubtedly on France, with Paris taking the first place ranking among the season’s top destinations. France was followed by the United Kingdom (London), Germany (Berlin), and Spain (Madrid).

 

 

If we look at the demand for the coming months, this trend does not seem to shift as these cities continue to be the most popular for the autumn that has already begun.

What does this mean for hoteliers? Now is the time to boost OTA and metasearch budgets to take advantage on this demand, especially for properties in these popular and demanded destinations.

In terms of point of sale, domestic reserves continue to be the most significant, where we can see growth year after year. It is important to highlight the growth in demand from the U.S. market. There we noted a 400% increase in bookings compared to last year, and even a 50% increase over pre-pandemic bookings. Other significant growth compared to last year can be seen in Spain, Switzerland, and Italy, where bookings have increased by more than 100%.

 

 

 

France stood out as the strongest point of sale this summer, representing almost 50% of total bookings among top countries, reaching 30% more bookings than last year, and even duplicating the 2019 levels. 

 

 

Coming this fall: Target Locations & Check-in Dates to Increase Bookings 

With no further updates on future restrictions, demand is expected to grow this autumn in major European cities. The most popular destinations for the coming months are the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, followed by Netherlands and Spain.  The focus will be on major cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam.

 

 

As we have already seen, the cities that have been popular last summer will continue the trend this fall. If we look at the months with the highest demand, October is definitely where we will find the spike in demand. The main reason is due to last-minute bookings, as most travelers decide to book only 2 to 15 days in advance.

Another trend for this fall will be weekend trips, where demand is concentrated in bookings between Friday and Sunday, with the most occurring for stays between 1 and 2 nights.

 

 

 

How can we use all these trends to boost bookings?

We recommend targeting not just top destinations but also timing in your bidding strategy – this is where we can really improve our results. Pushing bid levels on high-demand check-in days, short stays, and last-minute bookings is an excellent strategy to take advantage of this opportunity and boost results for the last quarter of the year.

 

Summer began a strong start to post-pandemic recovery, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. Now is the time to focus on these strategies for the coming fall/winter. 

Contact our experts at Koddi and make sure these strategies are included in your campaigns this fall.