World-leading accommodation site, agoda, announced its findings around holiday booking trends, following analysis of 20 countries. Which nationalities like to stay close to home and which venture further afield? Who tends to book at the last minute, and who are the most serious forward planners, securing overall better prices and a wider accommodation choice?

From the millions of bookings made on the agoda site in 2016, there are some clear distinctions from market to market in terms of booking habits. Hong Kongers are, for the second year running, the most organised and book the longest in advance – an average of seven weeks (or 49.4 days) – prior to travel.  Taking second place are the Russians who have moved up two places from fourth position in 2015, with a booking lead-time of 46 days.

TOP 5 FORWARD PLANNERS

Hong Kong                 49.4

Russia                         46.4

Australia                     44.3

Taiwan                       43.3

United Kingdom        37.2

At the other end of the scale, the five nations that book with the least notice are made up primarily of Asian markets - Malaysia, India, Vietnam and Indonesia booking with a booking lead time of between 24 and 18 days.  In last position are Saudi Arabians, booking on average, just over 2 weeks (or 16.9 days) in advance of travel, making their trips more expensive overall.  BOTTOM 5 FORWARD PLANNERS

Malaysia                     24.4

India                           21.7

Vietnam                      18.7

Indonesia                   18.0

Saudi Arabia              16.9

Andy Edwards, Global Director Brand and Communications adds: “Our research demonstrates that across the globe, the trend is shifting to more advanced booking, with an average global increase of two days lead-time in booking compared to the previous year. This is somewhat surprising, given that we are portrayed as living in an age of ‘instant gratification’.   

“Price and choice play a driving factor when booking travel – the longer you book in advance, the better the choice and the lower the cost.  Popular culture portrays this image of the adventurous, last minute traveller, but in reality consumers are investing more time preparing for their holiday to get the most out of their well-deserved break.” 
Overseas versus domestic travel trends

When it comes to booking accommodation overseas, versus domestic travel, Singapore and Hong Kong take the unrivalled joint lead due to country size, with nearly all bookings (99%) being outbound.   The UK takes third place, with 38% of hotel bookings outbound, and 62% booked domestically.

Surprisingly, in the US, just 8% of all hotel bookings support international travel, with 92% supporting domestic travel. In China, some 98% of the nation’s bookings are placed domestically – demonstrating the massive potential of outbound travel in both these highly populated, powerhouse markets.

The study compared hotel bookings made by agoda travellers from 2015 to 2016.