As some Brits prefer immediate travel, second lockdowns affect the travel demand incurring losses to the hospitality industry.

trivago has examined its platform data to shed light on how the latest European lockdowns are affecting travel bookings on the continent, giving the industry a glimpse into what could be ahead for UK travel booking trends.

The data is from October before France and Germany announced second (partial) lockdowns, starting from 30th October in France and from 1 November in Germany.

trivago’s data, which is pulled throughout October, gives a glimpse at the trends in searches up to, and including, these announcements, including desire to travel, time to travel and domestic vs international.

The company has analysed data from the month of October to reveal:

• In France, the second lockdown announcement has led to an immediate decline in desire to travel, but the impact was not as severe in Germany.
• Domestic travel lost popularity in October in France, Germany and the UK, even before lockdowns were announced, however was still remaining strong.
• With many consumers making last minute searches (36% of British searches are for next day travel) this November lockdown could represent a significant loss of yet-to-be booked income for UK accommodation providers.

In France and the UK, the share of click-outs to domestic accommodation increased steadily from around April 2020, reaching 70% at the end of summer. In the week of 19th October (before the lockdown announcements), this decreased to around 60% for both the UK and France

In Germany, the share of domestic travel is slightly higher, at around 70% w/c 19th October, but this has decreased since the start of October (prior to October there had been a steady increase since July).