New data from SiteMinder, the world’s leading guest acquisition and revenue platform, reveals that 2025 was the year UK hotels entered a more predictable booking environment after years of volatility and changing traveller behaviour.
SiteMinder’s Hotel Booking Trends, based on more than 130 million hotel bookings, reveals that annual average daily rates (ADR) across the UK rose modestly by 1.35% year-on-year in 2025, to £191.55 up from £189.00 in 2024.
During the same period, cancellation rates and booking lead times were largely unchanged. Cancellations decreased from 18.27% to 18.24%, staying below the global average, while booking windows decreased from 35.46 to 35.11 days, while remaining several days longer than the global average.
The trend towards stabilisation in the UK reflected global patterns, with cancellation rates decreasing slightly to 19.15% from 19.79% the year prior, while booking lead times increased moderately from 32.03 days to to 32.15 days.
Further analysis of SiteMinder’s UK data shows that:
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- Domestic bookings continue to predominate, accounting for 69.20% of all UK hotel arrivals in 2025, increasing from 68.37% the year prior. This aligns with SiteMinder’s data globally, which shows domestic travel gaining share in several major markets, including Germany, where domestic check-ins increased to 68.33% of all 2025 arrivals, from 64.66% last year, France (up to 47.23% from 44.68%) Spain (40.93% vs 39.65%) and the US (77% vs 73.78%).
- The UK remains among the world’s most short-stay-heavy destinations, with 80.50% of bookings lasting a single night, slightly more than in 2024 when they accounted for 80.16%. In comparison, 73.09% of bookings globally were for a single night, a slight decrease from 73.20% the prior year.
- Fridays again saw the highest rates, averaging £215 in 2025, up 0.93% year-on-year from £213.02. Saturday is now the second highest priced day with an annual average rate of £193.59, a 1.36% increase from £190.99 the year before, when it was the third highest priced day. Thursday, which was the second highest priced day in 2024 with a yearly ADR of £191.05, became the third highest priced date with an average rate of £192.31, a 0.66% increase.
- Seasonality remained strong, with July and August alone accounting for just over 19.34%% of bookings last year, a slight increase from 19% the year before. Mirroring this, the year-on-year increase in ADR for the summer months outperformed the annual increase of 1.4%, with these increasing by 2.39% in July, to £215.39 from £210.36, and by 1.69% in August, from to £200.41 from £197.08.
Reflecting the growing importance of Asian travel globally, Agoda consolidated its fourth-place position on SiteMinder’s annual list of Top 12 booking channels for UK hotels, while Indian B2B platform TBOHolidays retained its place on the list.
Direct bookings via hotels’ websites once again ranked third––behind Booking.com and Expedia respectively––despite predictions that AI would either erode or amplify the channel. Airbnb climbed from ninth to eighth in the rankings, while London-based G2 Travel entered the list for the first time.
James Bishop, SiteMinder’s VP of ecosystem and strategic partnerships, says: “A return to more stable booking behaviour will be welcome relief for UK hoteliers, allowing them to shift focus from reacting to volatility to optimising volume and revenue in a complex, competitive market. This means designing guest acquisition strategies that fully leverage demand peaks, while filling rooms midweek or during quieter months. Likewise, with city breaks, stopovers and business travel all playing a considerable role in the UK’s incoming travel, hoteliers would do well to design tailored offers that entice short-stay guests to add an extra night or two.”
Bishop concludes:
“Distribution in particular should be an area of focus in 2026. SiteMinder’s annual list of Top 12 booking channels points to a more layered distribution picture for UK hotels, with B2B and specialist intermediaries increasingly complementing the familiar split between OTAs and direct bookings. And, while the majority of bookings continue to come from within the UK, hotels should ensure their channel mix positions them to benefit from the ongoing resurgence of Asian outbound travel.”
The annual SiteMinder’s Hotel Booking Trends report is the most authoritative analysis of hotel bookings across 20 of the world’s most established destinations. It is powered by SiteMinder’s platform, which serves more than 50,000 hotels, generating 250 million+ room nights and over US$55 billion in revenue for its hotel customers each year.
SiteMinder’s Hotel Booking Trends report, including UK-specific charts and the Top 12 hotel booking revenue-makers of 2025, is available here.
The Top 12 booking channels for UK hotels in 2025 were:
- Booking.com
- Expedia Group
- Hotel websites (direct booking)
- Agoda
- Hotelbeds
- Global distribution systems
- Trip.com
- AirBnB
- WebBeds
- G2 Travel
- Hostelworld Group
- TBOHolidays