Expedia reveals summer ‘business boom’ for hotels

New data from Expedia has revealed hoteliers across the UK have enjoyed a successful early summer period, with a significant increase in hotel demand compared with 2017.  

The online travel agent (OTA) said the boom follows a positive start to the year thanks to a significant rise in hotel demand by both domestic and international visitors – fuelled by a number of fast-growing markets.

The findings drawn from Q2 2018 data* (April, May, June) show that demand for UK hotels increased, with a number of cities and regions across the country seeing strong year-on-year growth. Broader data for the EMEA region found that London remains the number one destination for global travellers who booked on Expedia’s sites.

Regionally, Essex and Chester saw the highest increase in demand, each with a 35% rise year on year, whilst East Anglia, Cambridge and North Wales also experienced a substantial boom in demand, each growing 30% year on year. Demand in Scotland and Wales overall also increased for this quarter, compared with the same period last year.

Expedia attributed the growth to continued rise in UK staycations, with significantly more demand for UK hotels coming from domestic travellers. The data showed that over 50% of demand for UK hotels during the period came from UK-based guests.

In addition to the increase in UK-based demand, hoteliers have continued to see positive growth from international travellers. Demand remains on the rise in traditionally strong visitor markets such as the US (almost 50% up year on year) and Australia (over 45% up year on year).

Irene Roberts, director of market management, UK & Ireland at Expedia Group, said: “Our second quarter data for 2018 shows strong growth in demand across many areas of the UK.  We have been working with our hotel partners to continue to increase demand from both domestic guests and key international domains, especially those from fast-growing markets.

“It has been a really positive start to the summer for UK hotels, with those across a number of UK regional cities and coastal destinations enjoying impressive growth compared to the same period last year. Hopefully this positive trend will continue into the second half of the year.”

Expedia Group data shows the top destinations in Q2 2018 across the EMEA region were:

1          London

2          Paris, France

3          Rome, Italy

4          Amsterdam, Netherlands

5          Barcelona, Spain

6          Berlin, Germany

7          Istanbul, Turkey

8          Dubai, United Arab Emirates

9          Madrid, Spain

10        Mallorca Island, Spain