Booking.com Empowers Bookers To Turn Summer Vacation Dreams Into Reality

New York - May 23, 2019 - As the summer season approaches, Booking.com, the world’s #1 choice for booking accommodations, is empowering Americans to ‘Be A Booker’ and click that confirmation button for the perfect summer getaway with a variety of deals, destination suggestions and a seamless booking process to make things easier than ever.

With school almost out and Summer Fridays in full swing, Bookers have big ambitions for summer travel, with 79%* feeling that summer is the biggest opportunity to take the trip they’ve been thinking about, 69%* saying they want to travel more this year than last year, 83%* wanting to get away as much as possible this summer and 80%* planning to add on leisure days to obligation travel, according to a recent survey commissioned by Booking.com.

Bookers don’t expect that they’ll be able to do everything they want to do this summer though, with 72%* thinking summer will end before they are able to get away as much as they want. But Bookers don’t have to worry. No matter the season, Booking.com offers the world’s largest selection of incredible places to stay along with daily deals, free cancellation, 24/7 customer service and more so there is also reason to ‘Be A Booker.’

SUMMER SAVINGS & SUGGESTIONS

With the majority of Americans (89%)** saying that cost and overall price is important when booking travel, Booking.com makes it even easier for travelers to decide where to go with deals, including the Great Getaway Sale, offering 15% off select properties globally from June 1 - August 31.

Solo and wellness travel ranks high on Bookers list for vacations this summer season with Americans saying that the idea of traveling alone makes them feel brave (76%)** empowered (68%)**, and adventurous (59%)**. Of the 71%** of Americans interested in wellness travel, spas (35%)**, sleep (34%)**, outdoor adventure (33%)** and healthy eating (27%)** are the most appealing aspects. Looking for something off the beaten path? Nearly all (91%)** of Americans would go on vacation to learn something new, which Bookers would be sure to do if visiting one of Booking.com’s summer trending destinations, based on booking trends by American travelers:

• Goreme, Turkey
• Artemida, Greece
• Hafnarfjordur, Iceland
• Ponta Delgada, Portugal
• Batumi and Tbilisi City, Georgia
• Canggu, Indonesia
• Cardano al Campo, Italy
• Valle de Guadalupe and Sayulita, Mexico
• Tumon, Guam
• Dayuan, Taiwan
• Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
• Fes, Morocco
• Ica, Peru
• Yerevan, Armenia
• Vecses, Hungary
• Badhoevedorp, Netherlands

SOCIAL SUMMER

How social do Bookers plan to be this summer? Booking.com aims to inspire Americans to get off their social media feeds and #BeABooker themselves, instead of just pinning, posting and swiping, while knowing that social media can also be a resource for travel planning. Social media is a prime driver of FOMO (fear of missing out), with 37%** saying social media gives them travel envy and 44%** saying platforms like Instagram spark travel inspiration.

More than one-third (37%)** of younger Americans (18 - 34 years old) would not go on their dream vacation if they couldn’t share anything about it online, with the most frequently posted photos to social media among Americans being photos of scenery (44%)**, their travel group (38%)** and selfies with a scenic background (36%)**. That said, a majority of Americans (66%)** tend to give up social media while on vacation and 52%** said they would give up social media for an entire year for some number of all-expense paid vacations.

-- Methodology --
 

*Summer Travel Survey 1: research commissioned by Booking.com and independently conducted among 1,000 respondents from the US aged 25-44 who intend to take 1 or more leisure trips this summer and include family travelers, couple travelers, friend group travelers, and solo travelers.

**Summer Travel Survey 2: Booking.com commissioned an independently conducted online field survey among a nationally representative sample of 1,000 American adults.

***Summer Trending Destinations: the data analysts at Booking.com compared bookings in the summer months (June-August) of 2018 with those of 2017.