A survey of 2,000 British holidaygoers by the travel planning and booking site, TripAdvisor, found that consumers’ perception of when the best hotel rates become available does not always match the reality.
A quarter of those surveyed (24%) thought that booking a hotel more than six months in advance would give you the best rates.
In fact, of the 25 major destinations included in the research, this was true of only three – Beijing, Moscow and Barcelona – and even then travellers would still benefit from savings in those destinations even if they waited until four months prior to the trip to make the hotel booking.
The research also showed that there was no hard and fast rule for when the most savings could be made across all of the major global destinations, which means travellers will often be best served changing their booking behaviour depending on where they plan to go.
For example, for British travellers planning a summer holiday in Europe, the best time to book their hotel is between three to five months out, when they can save 23% compared to peak prices.
For Brits heading to Asian destinations, however, booking this far in advance can actually be counter-productive – the top five places with the shortest lead time needed to secure the best rates are all in Asia with one in the Middle East. Dubai has the shortest lead time with the biggest savings to be made by booking within 2 months of the trip, followed by Jakarta, Mumbai, Bangkok and Hanoi respectively, which all offer the best deals when booking within three months of your trip.
As well as having the shortest lead time for booking, Asia and Middle East destinations offer the biggest savings potential on average at 23% and 24% respectively.
Of the 25 major destinations included in the research, travellers to Moscow stand to gain the most from booking at the right time – with a potential saving of 55% if booking four to seven months out. Dubai follows at 40% when booking within two months of the trip and Jakarta comes closely behind at 39% when booking within three months.