Travelers book more in advance and cancel less, despite the 25% increase in the price of hotels in Spain

Cancellation rates are decreasing and the time in advance when booking accommodation in Spain is increasing, even with the rise in room prices. These are the main conclusions of the Hotel Booking Trends of SiteMinder, the world's leading open hotel commerce platform.

For the eighth consecutive year, the report brings together the list of the booking channels that have generated the most revenue for hotels worldwide and the main trends in the travel industry based on the analysis of more than 100 million reservations managed in 2022 through through SiteMinder, at a rate of 200 reservations per minute.

Travelers have booked on average 33 days in advance in 2022, compared to 18 days the previous year (an increase of 83%) and 38 days in 2019. This longer period of time between booking and check-in is largely due to measure to the increase in consumer confidence after the pandemic. In fact, the cancellation rate has also been reduced, going from 44% (2020) to 23% of reservations.

The activity registered by Spanish accommodations has been constant in 2022, thanks to the normalization of travel and the recovery of international tourism. Reserve momentum exceeded 2019 levels for most of the year, despite inflation and rising prices. In 2022, the average price per room in Spain was €169, 25% more than the previous year and 12% more than in 2019. The average length of stays, for its part, went from 2.11 days to 2.25 days in 2022, with August being the month with the longest stays (2.65 days) and November at the opposite extreme (2.05).

The Hotel Booking Trends 2022 shows how the revival of travel returns leadership to the large traditional booking channels. Booking.com has taken first place both worldwide and in Spain. Direct reserves are consolidated in the second position in our country, despite falling in 42% of the markets. Expedia remains in third place in the Spanish ranking for the fourth consecutive year. Hotelbeds and Jet2Holidays complete the list of the top five channels.

Although the normalization of travel returns traffic to the large international booking channels, in Spain it is worth noting the rise of local channels. This is the case of Keytel (formerly Hotusa), which climbed two positions (to 8th place) and sits in the Top 12 along with Traveltino. Lastminute.com is the other great novelty of this year, due to its sudden entry into a list where there are usually no big surprises. This incorporation is explained by the growth in reservations made by French and British travelers, markets where Lastminute.com is one of the most popular channels.

In the Top 12 they appear together with Traveltino, World 2 Meet and OTS Globe, which highlights the importance that the fact of having a wide distribution network that includes wholesalers, tour operators and travel agencies will continue to have for Spanish hotels. .  

The distribution of the first three positions in the Spanish ranking between Booking, direct reservations and Expedia shows that promoting a property on five or more channels can increase hotel reservations by up to 40%. By expanding channel coverage, properties naturally reach a wider range of potential guests and bookings grow. Hoteliers who have decided to invest in digitization in recent years are now seeing the results of that effort.

“The boost in bookings, increasingly longer stays and an increase in average daily rates are proof of the growing activity of the tourism sector over the last 12 months in Spain. Travelers are in favor of spending more on accommodation and travel. As these trends continue, hotel establishments are becoming more receptive to using a broader, multi-channel approach as a way to connect with more traveler segments, increasing their visibility and thus their bookings.” comments Sara Padrosa, director for Spain of SiteMinder.  

The 12 largest booking channels in Spain

Booking.com
Hotel websites (direct bookings)
Expedia Group
Hotelbeds
Jet2holidays
Global distribution systems
World 2 Meet
Keytel
Airbnb
OTS Globe
Lastminute.com
Traveltino