UK hotel booking soars high

Friday, August 6, 2021

The hotel bookings in the United Kingdom have reached their highest level since the start of the pandemic. It is the most concrete confirmation so far of the “staycation” boom the United Kingdom is currently experiencing, with bookings hitting 85 per cent of 2019 levels on July 29th.

The hotel booking figures remained stable at 84 per cent of 2019 levels on August 1st. The bookings are being driven by domestic tourism with 92 per cent of hotel bookings currently coming from within the country.

The overall hotel bookings, as a comparison to pre-pandemic times, first surpassed the global average on May 9th, and have since grown to sit at 20 percentage points above the current global average of 64 per cent.

The comparative booking levels are also outperforming those in a number of major European markets, including Portugal (82 per cent), France (70 per cent), Germany (71 per cent), the Netherlands (67 per cent) and Malta (74 per cent).

The vast majority of booking  over the past two weeks are due to arrive at hotels either this August (62 per cent) or September (19 per cent), showing the extent of the local pent-up demand that has been created from tightened travel restrictions this past year.

The coastal destinations in the United Kingdom have performed especially strongly this year, with hotel bookings in Brighton, for example, currently at 108 per cent of 2019 levels – having surpassed pre-pandemic volumes on June 6th.

Edinburgh is another standout destination, sitting at 112 per cent of 2019 bookings, while Bristol stands at 98 per cent by the same measure.

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