The peak season is almost here. ‘Summer is coming’

With the arrival of good weather, travelers are showing increased interest in various destinations to enjoy their free time. They are more active and attentive to trends, offers, and new distribution channels.

Hoteliers are putting in their best efforts to offer the most competitive rates, deploying a diversified pricing strategy. OTAs are also becoming more aggressive with their pricing strategies, trying to attract users at any cost.

This behavior is evident in the May wave, which shows a 2.4 percentage point increase in disparity compared to the previous waves on a global scale.

Looking more closely at the comparison with previous data, the Booking Group remains stable, while Expedia Group is slightly more active (+3% vs April). Notably, smaller OTAs like Goseek, Clicktrip, and Vio are being more aggressive, relying solely on price to drive traffic.

The summer season changes the type of traveler, shifting from short-stay business travelers to leisure travelers seeking medium to long stays with more advanced bookings. This intensifies cases of rate disparity, as trips are planned well in advance, travel budgets are higher, and commissions for the winning offer are more substantial.

We also see this increased activity among vacation travelers in the rise of disparities for long-term demand, with a 7% increase in the ‘Lose’ rate for stays in the next 30 to 90 days.

This hypothesis is confirmed when looking at the type of establishment analyzed in the data from this wave. There is an almost 5 percentage point increase in disparities in 5-star hotels, indicating that the leisure travel sector is becoming more active, especially in the luxury segment where the ADR is very high, presenting more opportunities for profit.

In conclusion, the market and rate parity battle will intensify alongside peak seasons and events. It will challenge hoteliers during expected periods of high demand—predictable times because the calendar is known, and the trend is clear. Hoteliers are aware of this but must always stay vigilant and anticipate changes, as OTAs and their algorithms are constantly hunting for customers.

Let’s prepare well for the summer season, especially in the vacation travel sector, which will be the most sought after by travelers and OTAs.