- Spain remains the largest European destination market for European travellers with 11% of all flight bookings, according to data from RateGain and Sojern, a RateGain brand
- Overall demand for travel remained stable as ADR increased 4-6% year-on-year across Europe
- England fans led the European demand for World Cup travel to the US
India, 29 September, 2026: RateGainTravel Technologies Limited (BSE: 543417, NSE: RATEGAIN), today unveiled the trends that defined the European travel industry this summer, with demand proving resilient across the peak season and an ongoing Middle East conflict, a major sporting event and rising prices.
Overall, hotel and flight bookings increased in 2026 compared to the past two summers across all three summer months, based on data from RateGain, the leading AI-powered travel platform, and Sojern, a RateGain brand. While the peak August travel window saw the most bookings, the highest month-on-month rise came in July with a 5% rise versus 2025. Travellers experienced higher prices this year across both flights and hotels, with the latter up 4-6% acrossEurope.
Spain was once again the most popular travel destination in Europe, consistently attracting 11% of total flight bookings on RateGain’s platforms between June and August 2026. Overall, flight demand rose 5% year-on-year, with August proving the most popular travel month.
Oscar Ganuza, Senior Vice President of Revenue for Europe at RateGain, said: “Summer 2026 has been one of resilience for the travel industry. Demand did not disappear, but it was more fragmented as European travellers put value for money at the top of their booking agenda. Spain has long been a favourite destination, and this year was no different. We also found that Germany and the UK remained stable outbound and inbound markets. Germany’s demand is notably spread across a wide range of destinations, in contrast to Spain, where demand concentrates on a handful of key tourist hotspots.”
Additional highlights from the report included:
World Cup tourism
The World Cup drew increased visitors to North America from Europe, led by UK travellers, who accounted for more than a quarter of all flight bookings in June and July. Despite the tournament taking place in Canada and Mexico too, the US accounted for almost four in five (78.7%) of European flight bookings into the corridor, with more than40% of hotel bookings coming from UK travellers. France (11.5%), Germany(9.5%), Italy (9.3%) and Spain (8.8%) completed the top five source markets forNorth America during the tournament this summer.
Middle East traffic moves to Turkey
As the conflict in the Middle East continued, many travellers looked to Turkey for their trips this summer, with flights rising 25% year-on-year and accounting for 60% of total European flight volumes into the region. This contrasted starkly with the wider regional picture, where volumes into the rest of the Middle East fell by around 13%. Regional volatility also impacted the booking window, with average flight lead times falling to 33 days in June, down from 37.5 days in 2025.
Commenting on the findings, Céline Chaussegros, VP, Global Property Sales & Customer Success, Sojern said, “While some of the headline data shows only small shifts, the underlying picture this summer is one ofresilience for hoteliers, airlines and the travel industry overall. Travellers didn’t stop moving in the face of a challenging summer, they adapted where they went, how long they stayed and how they booked. That’s the story this data tells: not that disruption didn’t matter, but that demand found a way through it.”
"Looking ahead to the autumn, not every pattern from this summer should be treated as the new normal. Some shifts, likethe strength of Germany and the UK as core European markets, or the divide between Turkey and the wider Middle East, reflect structural realities likely to persist. Others, like the timing shifts seen around the World Cup, wereshaped by a one-off event and may not repeat in the same way. We'd encourage the industry to keep watching real-time demand signals into Q4, rather than assuming this summer's patterns carry forward automatically.
ENDS
Note to Editors
About RateGainTravel Technologies Limited
RateGain Travel Technologies Limited is a global provider of AI-powered SaaS solutions for travel and hospitality, working with14,000+ customers and 700+ partners across 160+ countries. RateGain helps travel and hospitality businesses accelerate revenue generation through acquisition, retention, and wallet share expansion.
Today, RateGain is one of the world’s largest processors of electronic transactions, price points, and travel intent data, enabling revenue management, distribution, and marketing teams across hotels, airlines, destination marketing organizations, metasearch companies, package providers, car rentals, travel management companies, cruises, and ferries to drive better business outcomes.
Founded in 2004 and headquartered inIndia, RateGain works with 33 of the Top 40 Hotel Chains, 4 of the Top 5 Airlines, 7 of the Top 10 Car Rental companies, and all leading Destination Marketing Organizations,Online Travel Agents, and metasearch platforms, including 25 Global Fortune 500companies, unlocking new revenue every day.
Recognized globally for its innovationand impact, RateGain has been named Best Digital Marketing Agency by HotelTechReportAwards and Best Channel Manager by the World Travel Tech Awards. The company has alsobeen certified as a Great Place to Work® in the USA, Spain, and India, with recognitionin India for seven consecutive years. In 2025,
RateGain was honored as Emerging Companyof the Year at The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence, named among Deloitte India Technology Fast 50 for the sixth time, and won Excellence in Best AISolution Showcase for UNO VIVA at the CII National AI Awards 2025, among other industryrecognitions.
About Sojern
Sojern is the leading AI-powered travel platform built for hospitality, designed to boost growth and profitability for the travel industry. The Sojern marketing platform is a set of easy-to-use software and services that delivers unrivaled traveler insight, intelligent audiences, multichannel activation and optimization, and a connected guest experience—all in one place. More than 13,000 travel marketers rely on our platform annually to find, attract, convert and engage travelers. Sojern, founded in 2007 and acquired by RateGain in 2025, is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with teams in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific.
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