The Rise of Last-Minute Bookings
Cautious consumer sentiment is leading travelers to delay bookings, and that's usually a scary sign. But overall travel activity is holding up: The latest Skift Travel Health Index shows global travel rose 3% year-over-year in the first half of 2025.
The late-booking trend is most noticeable in the U.S., where 40% of hotel bookings in June were made within seven days of arrival. Globally, hotel bookings made within seven days of arrival now account for 21% of total reservations, up from 18% in 2019.
Trends Across Key Markets
A deeper analysis of hotel occupancy 'build-up curves' by Lighthouse tracks how far in advance bookings are made.
Stable markets: Business hubs such as London, Amsterdam, and Dubai have maintained largely consistent booking patterns.
Shrinking windows: Cities such as New York and Singapore are experiencing shorter booking windows. While final occupancy rates are similar to last year, bookings are being made closer to the travel date.
Increased confidence: Paris stands out as a top performer, with the first half of 2025 showing a faster ramp-up and higher total occupancy than 2024, suggesting a slight increase in booking confidence.
Read the June 2025 Highlights for more insights into booking trends.
What This Means for the Travel Industry
The data show that although the timing of booking is shifting, traveler demand remains resilient. Pedro Camara, CEO and founder of Travelgate, said, 'Are we pacing behind 2024? No. The cumulative revenue curve for stays from January to June shows 2025 lagging 2024 until approximately 14 days before check-in, then catching up entirely within the final two weeks.'
This evolving behavior has significant implications for hotels and other travel companies. Rather than pointing to a need for broad discounting, these trends highlight the need to adapt strategies to capture later-stage demand.
For instance, the data suggest that hotels should re-evaluate their early-bird discounting policies. Travelers are showing a willingness to pay higher rates closer to arrival, meaning businesses can focus on dynamic pricing and last-minute promotions to maximize revenue without compromising their overall pricing structure. The challenge for the industry is not a drop in demand, but a change in the rhythm of how that demand is realized.
The Skift Travel Health Index is a real-time measure of the performance of the travel industry at large, and the core verticals within it, which provides the travel industry with a powerful tool for strategic planning. We have been tracking travel for 22 of the largest global economies since 2020, with consistent monthly data inputs across 88 indicators that are aggregated to cover categories such as aviation, hotels, short-term rentals, and car rentals.
Access the Skift Travel Health Index: June 2025 Highlights for an in-depth analysis and the Travel Health Index dashboard to visualize the data.
Skift Travel Health Index: June 2025 Highlights
Despite heightened economic uncertainty and shifting consumer sentiment, the global travel industry showed resilience through the first half of 2025. The Skift Travel Health Index recorded 3% year-on-year growth in global travel performance as of June 2025. Read More
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