Published on
February 3, 2026
In 2025, Portugal emerged alongside Italy, Spain, Thailand, and other prominent travel destinations in driving significant global hotel revenue growth, driven by extended booking windows and a shift in travel behavior. Traditional peak periods, like summer and the holiday season, became less concentrated, while bookings in shoulder periods saw a notable rise, helping to balance demand throughout the year. This shift, coupled with increasing room rates, reflects a broader trend toward more sustainable and consistent tourism, with travelers planning ahead and reducing cancellations. Portugal, along with its European and global peers, is benefiting from this transformation, reshaping how hotels worldwide approach bookings and revenue management.
SiteMinder’s annual Hotel Booking Trends report, based on over 130 million hotel bookings, reveals a significant shift in global booking patterns in 2025. Demand has become more evenly distributed across the year, reducing reliance on traditional peak periods and signaling a new, more balanced landscape in hotel arrivals. This evolving trend is helping to stabilize the global hotel industry and redefine the future of travel.
Diversified Demand Throughout the Year
The analysis from SiteMinder’s 2025 data indicates that 65% of global markets experienced a decrease in the concentration of annual arrivals during their busiest month. This marks a significant change from previous years, where a single peak period often dominated hotel bookings. In 2025, major peak periods such as July in Italy, August in Spain and Portugal, and December in Thailand became less concentrated. For example, Italy’s busiest month, July, accounted for 10.77% of annual check-ins, a decrease from the previous year. Similarly, Spain’s peak month of August saw 11.19% of annual bookings, while Portugal reached 11.84%, and Thailand’s December bookings accounted for 10.12%. This shift has been driven by a rise in shoulder period travel, reflecting a more consistent year-round demand.
Rate Adjustments and Rising Room Costs
In 2025, hotel room rates saw an upward trend, with 70% of markets reporting an increase in average room prices. The global average rate reached US$194, marking a significant rise in hotel prices across several key destinations. Austria saw the highest increase, with a US$15 boost in room rates. Portugal and Spain also experienced room rate hikes of US$11 each. This pricing adjustment reflects the overall surge in travel demand, particularly from the Asian market, which reshaped global revenue figures.
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The Impact of Asian Travel Demand
SiteMinder’s data pointed to a transformative shift in Asian travel, with outbound travel from China and India surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time. This surge in demand from two of the world’s largest travel markets helped reshape global revenue trends. As Asian travel accelerated, booking platforms like Agoda saw an increase in their presence across 40% of SiteMinder’s top-performing destinations. Additionally, China’s Trip.com expanded its reach into key markets, including Germany, Spain, and the US, further bolstering its presence on the global stage.
Direct Bookings Remain Stable Despite Digital Shift
One of the most anticipated trends in the hotel booking industry was the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on direct bookings. While many had predicted that AI might either erode or amplify the direct booking channel, SiteMinder’s data shows that direct bookings held steady. Revenue share from direct bookings stayed within 1.5 percentage points of the previous year across 95% of markets. Notably, hotel websites again generated the highest value per booking, with the average booking value reaching US$516. This suggests that while third-party platforms continue to play a significant role in driving bookings, direct hotel websites remain a crucial revenue generator.
Changing Booking Behaviors and Longer Lead Times
In addition to an increase in room rates, hotel booking behaviors also shifted in 2025. Booking windows extended, with travelers planning their stays well in advance. The average lead time for bookings rose to 32.15 days, showing that guests were planning ahead more than ever before. Cancellations also dropped, falling to 19.15%, reflecting a more stable and confident traveler base.
Expedia Leads North American Market
In North America, Expedia Group marked a significant milestone by emerging as the top revenue-driving channel in the US, Canada, and Mexico, for the first time since 2020. This development highlights Expedia’s continued dominance in the North American market, capitalizing on the rising demand for hotel bookings in these regions.
Conclusion: A Year of Growth and Evolving Trends
The 2025 SiteMinder Hotel Booking Trends report offers a comprehensive analysis of the evolving global travel landscape, underscoring the growing importance of year-round demand, the impact of rising Asian travel, and the stability of direct bookings. With more consistent travel across shoulder periods, hotel bookings are diversifying, allowing for steady demand and longer booking windows. The findings highlight how the global hotel industry is adapting to new traveler behaviors and setting the stage for a more balanced and sustainable growth trajectory in the coming years.
SiteMinder’s platform, serving over 50,000 hotels and generating more than A$85 billion in annual revenue for its hotel customers, continues to provide valuable insights into the trends shaping the global hotel industry. As travel patterns shift, hoteliers must remain agile and continue to adjust their strategies to meet the changing demands of a global, year-round traveler base.
