Hotels face ‘nightmare’ cancellation rates as holidaymakers rush abroad
Hotels are being hit hard by cancellations across the country with London especially hard-hit after a lack of overseas tourists this summer.
Some hotels are experiencing cancellation rates of 50 per cent or more as international travel rules relax, according to booking engine provider Avvio.
“Guests are cancelling their bookings at the last minute and going abroad instead. If these cancellations are in resort hotels the rooms are often quickly filled again, as there’s a queue of families desperate to have a resort staycation,” Avvio’s chief commercial officer, Michael De Jongh said.
“But cancellations are hitting the city centre hotels hard. It’s a nightmare for them as most of these bookings will never be filled.”
Many city centre hotels were reporting just 30 per cent occupancy levels before the opening of foreign travel with London particularly suffering from the hit to international tourism.
Couples have been up to six times more likely to cancel than families. “Come September there’ll be no families to fill the resort hotel bookings. If cancellation rates remain the same, it will be a disastrous autumn for both resort and city centre hotels,” De Jongh added.
Online travel platform Booking.com told City A.M. that domestic travel continued to remain at the forefront of UK holidaymakers’ minds with international travel restrictions likely to continue into 2022.
“In terms of locations, it appears that coastal and country breaks are continuing to be favoured, which is unsurprising given that our recent research reveals only 5 per cent of people in the UK cite a city break as the first type of trip they are keen to take,” a spokesperson for the platform said.
Coastal areas such as Cornwall, Devon, Bournemouth, and Brighton have replaced international city style breaks.
Travellers are also more eager to stay in homes and apartments over hotels following the pandemic with 32 per cent of Booking.com bookings for alternative accommodation last quarter.