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.

Industry veteran transitions to VP Enterprise Growth as part of strategic Lighthouse acquisition

Lighthouse, the leading commercial intelligence platform serving 85,000+ in 185 countries hotels globally, today announced the appointment of Mercedes Blanco as Vice President of Enterprise Growth, marking a significant milestone in the company’s strategic acquisition of The Hotels Network (THN).

Blanco, an accomplished corporate leader with nearly two decades of experience in Travel & Hospitality, brings a distinguished track record of driving growth and building strategic partnerships that create measurable value for hoteliers through innovative technology solutions.

Proven leadership in strategic growth 

As VP Enterprise Growth at Lighthouse, Blanco is focused on leveraging the combined capabilities of Lighthouse’s market-leading commercial intelligence platform and THN’s AI-driven marketing personalization technology to drive impact at scale for enterprise clients.

In her previous role as Chief Partnerships Officer at THN, she was instrumental in cultivating relationships with major industry players and driving strategic partnerships that fueled company growth. Her leadership was key to launching and expanding products that empower hoteliers to drive direct bookings.

“Mercedes embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and strategic vision that drives our mission to transform complexity into confidence for hospitality professionals,” said Dave Collier, Chief Revenue Officer at Lighthouse “Her proven ability to build meaningful partnerships and drive enterprise growth makes her invaluable as we accelerate our combined platform’s impact across the industry.”

Distinguished career and industry impact 

An influential speaker and relationship builder, Mercedes is a dedicated member of the travel industry at-large. She is an active member of the Sales Americas Advisory Board at HSMAI, member of Global Technology T-100 by AHLA-HTNG, and founding member of Women in Travel THRIVE.

Her significant contributions to the industry have been widely recognized with prestigious honors such as Top 50 Women in Travel by WINiT by GBTA, Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds by HSMAI, and most recently, Top 25 Hospitality Executives to Watch in 2025 by International Hospitality Institute.

A passionate advocate for leveraging technology to create value and a champion for women’s empowerment, Blanco has established herself as an influential voice in the hospitality industry.

Strategic timing amid rapid growth 

This leadership transition comes as Lighthouse continues its rapid expansion following the April 2025 acquisition of The Hotels Network, which added AI-driven marketing personalization capabilities to Lighthouse’s comprehensive commercial intelligence platform. The combined organization now serves over 85,000 hotels across 185 countries with a team of 850+ employees.

“The hospitality industry is experiencing unprecedented technological transformation,” said Blanco. “I’m excited to help enterprise clients navigate this evolution by leveraging our combined platform capabilities to deliver solutions that drive real revenue impact and operational efficiency.”

About Lighthouse 

Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) is the leading commercial platform for the travel & hospitality industry. We transform complexity into confidence by providing actionable market insights, business intelligence, and pricing tools that maximize revenue growth. Trusted by over 70,000 hotels in 185 countries, Lighthouse is the only solution that provides real-time hotel and short-term rental data in a single platform. Learn more at www.mylighthouse.com 

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, August 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Hyatt is getting a boost from luxury travelers, while its executives are going forward with an asset-light strategy, writes Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.

Hyatt’s luxury brands saw a 5% increase in revenue per available room during the second quarter. O’Neill notes Hyatt has benefited from luxury and upper-uspcale hotels representing 70% of its rooms, while its competitors are more reliant on mid-market and economy brands that are dealing with economic uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Hyatt has been working to sell assets and wants to primarily rely on franchising or management deals. Fee-based revenue provides steadier cash flows and higher returns on capital than owning hotels.

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Next, Expedia Group has increased its guidance for 2025 following a strong quarter for its B2B business and overseas growth, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.

Expedia’s new guidance for the year is 3-5% growth for gross bookings and revenue, up from 2-4%. The company saw a 7% increase in room nights during the second quarter. The gains come despite softness in the U.S.

CEO Ariana Gorin noted a boost from offering Southwest Airlines flights and said both Southwest and Expedia are gaining new customers because of the partnership.

Finally, demand for short-term rentals in Southern Europe this summer is showing signs of decline, and the region’s extreme heat may be a factor, writes Climate Reporter Darin Graham.

Graham cites Spain, Portugal, and Italy as countries that have seen a decline in the share of annual demand concentrated during the peak summer season. That’s according to new data from vacation rental analytics firm AirDNA.  

Graham notes the trend suggests that travelers could be adjusting their habits to avoid the worst of summer heatwaves. Spain, for example, has seen a sharp drop since 2018 in short-term rental demand for August, but slight increases in the period between February and May.