Duetto Pulse: UK and Spain markets show biggest appetites for travel in Europe

Mixed picture seen in Europe during March as COVID rates vary between nations

The latest edition of the Duetto Pulse Report continues to show mixed reports when it comes to booking activity and web traffic across Europe.

Some countries, such as the UK, are starting to open up again as COVID cases drop and a large section of the population have been vaccinated.

However, in other countries such as Italy, France, and to some extent, Germany, a fourth COVID wave has hit hard, forcing them back into lockdown.

However, we are seeing a steady increase in consumer confidence in the monthly pick up figures despite this ongoing uncertainty.

When comparing March 2021 pick up to February 2021 pick up, there is a definite increase for the EMEA region as a whole up until the stay month of December 2021.

Short-term booking activity has shot up with 549%, 128% and 3,183% increases for April, May and June respectively.

Moving into the summer months, July and August show 78% and 71% increases compared to the previous month for the whole region.

In March, we reported increases of just 20% and 25% so the pace of new bookings continues to increase month after month.

Breaking it down by region, UK and Ireland show a 118% and 96% increase for these two months, with DACH 43% and 106%, and Iberia 66% and 62%.

It is also interesting to note that even though the increases of new bookings reported for September and October are moderate at 27% and 46% respectively, these percentages start to show an increase in confidence of business slowly returning to city hubs, partly influenced by a return of business travel.

The UK and Ireland show an increase of 175% and 173% for September and October, with London in particular showing increases of 1646% and 556%.

However, the London figures must be seen in the context of the previously reported low figures. In the DACH region, with an important weight of business travel, September and October show increases of 790% and 254% respectively.

Web Traffic Shows Appetite For Travel

Web shopping for EMEA appears to be very focused on the short-term at present.

The latest data shows an increase of 61% in web searches for the whole year in comparison to February 2021, mostly focused in the short-term (April to June) with monthly increases of over 100% compared to the previous month.

Juan Ruano, Duetto director of hospitality solutions for the EMEA region, said: “March has been a very interesting month with mixed reports.

“Some countries are starting to come out of restrictions and reopen hospitality, but other reports show that some countries are experiencing new outbreaks and therefore lockdowns are being reintroduced, meaning the hospitality sector is remaining closed.

“However, the best news is that most vaccination rollouts are doing well, which is going to increase consumer confidence and will hopefully lead to hotel bookings increasing.

“Web traffic is showing clear signs of an appetite to travel with very strong increases compared to previous months. These increases are particularly strong in the UK (96%) and also in Iberia (76%).

“It’s also exciting to see that web searches for September are also up, which shows that not only is there light at the end of the tunnel for the Summer, but for the Autumn also.”

The Duetto Pulse Report is a monthly report available for free to hoteliers from around the world. It tracks key metrics for North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC. Subscribe here: https://www.duettocloud.com/pulse-signup