Travelers booking accommodation are planning their summer 2026 holidays much earlier while also reducing the number of cancellations. This finding comes from a study by the Spanish accommodation management company Stay Unique. Here are the key findings of the research:
Bookings made up to two weeks earlier
According to the company’s data, by May 31, the average booking lead time—the period between making a reservation and traveling—reached 51 days, compared with 37 days during the same period in 2025. This represents an increase of 14 days, bringing the figure close to the historic high of 57 days recorded at the end of last year.
Stay Unique believes travelers are planning their holidays earlier to secure more accommodation options, better prices, and greater availability of properties and travel services.
The trend is expanding across the market
This pattern is not limited to Stay Unique. The short-term rental analytics platform AirDNA currently estimates the average booking lead time at 56 days, while Key Data, a company specializing in short-term rental market analytics, places the figure at 81 days through the end of May.
At the same time, Stay Unique notes that this year’s picture differs significantly from the end of 2025, when the market recorded an average booking window of just 41 days, despite comparable periods having reached as many as 77 days. The company attributes this fluctuation to the higher number of booking cancellations observed at that time.
Summer cancellations are declining
Summer cancellations are decliningAnother important finding is the decline in cancellations. For summer bookings, covering the period from June through August, Stay Unique’s cancellation rate fell from 40.9% in 2025 to 33.4% in 2026, a decrease of more than seven percentage points.
The company attributes this change to travelers having greater confidence when making booking decisions, as well as to a customer profile that is more committed to keeping reservations.
The same pattern is evident across the wider market. According to Key Data, the cancellation ratio dropped from 77.3% to 50.7%, reinforcing the sense of greater stability across the tourism industry.
Tourism demand becomes more predictable
Overall, the indicators point to a gradual shift in traveler behavior, with earlier trip planning, more confident purchasing decisions, and fewer booking cancellations. This development improves the predictability of tourism demand and provides better planning conditions for accommodation providers, tourism businesses, and destinations.
