Stat: Inter-Covid travellers are making last-minute bookings

While travel bookings have filled many tourists with heightened anxieties amid Covid-19, research by Captify and Lastminute.com has found that people are embracing last-minute trips. This revival of spontaneous travel comes at a time when pandemic restrictions are largely being lifted, but the risk of catching Covid remains.

According to the research, between 2020 and 2021, flight bookings made less than two weeks in advance rose from 25% to 42% of flight bookings in Europe. This data points towards new opportunities for travel brands, who are well placed to entice customers with spontaneous holiday deals. Fiona Salmon, global vice-president of partnerships at Captify, explains: ‘This research comes at a pivotal moment for the travel industry, as consumer confidence is reaching pre-pandemic levels.’

These insights could lead to a renaissance of our Surprise Destinations microtrend, in which travel operators organised mystery trips for travellers to embrace uncertainty.