Online Travel Bookings To Reach $1.2 Trillion by End of 2026

Image: A man booking travel online. (Photo Credit: Prostock-studio / Adobe Stock)

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:05 PM ET, Tue January 7, 2025

Enthusiasm for travel shows no signs of slowing down over the coming years and booking travel via online travel agencies (OTAs) is quickly becoming the dominate channel for consumers when making reservations.

A new report from Phocuswright shows that travel bookings overall will reach new heights in 2025, albeit climbing slowly from previous benchmarks. Global bookings are expected to rise from $1.6 trillion in 2024 to $1.72 trillion in 2025, a development that Phocuswright says marks “a steady but slower growth rate as the market matures.”

In addition, online bookings will gain significant traction, increasing to $1.2 trillion in 2026 from $1 trillion in 2024. By 2026, nearly 65 percent of global travel gross bookings will be made online, according to Phocuswright.

“The consistent rise in bookings in all areas highlights a growing consumer preference for online travel services. This trend reflects a continuing shift toward digital platforms, encouraging travel providers to improve their online booking experiences to remain competitive,” says the report.

A woman booking travel with a credit card

The vast majority of online bookings are coming from the North American market, which accounted for $342 billion in such bookings in 2024, says the Phocuswright report. That’s followed by the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, which was the source of some $285 billion in online bookings last year. Europe rounds out the top three global source markets for online travel booking, generating $254 billion in sales during 2024.

Beyond the top three markets, the penchant for booking travel online declines dramatically with the Middle East in fourth place, recording a distant $47 billion in online bookings, followed by Russia/ Eastern Europe, which represented $40 billion in online bookings.

Offline bookings, however, continue to remain robust. In this category also, North America makes up the largest source market compared to other global regions, accounting for $202 billion in offline bookings last year, followed by the APAC region, which generated $166 billion in offline travel bookings. Europe once again rounds out the top three with $129 billion in offline travel bookings in 2024.

Looked at by country, the United States leads the market globally for monetary value of online travel bookings at $316.9 billion in 2024, a figure that represents a 5.9 percent increase over 2023.

But China saw the most significant year-over-year growth by far in online travel bookings between 2023 and 2024, growing to $121.4 billion in bookings last year, which amounted to a 20.2 percent increase from 2023.

Japan is also among the top markets for online bookings, generating $51.3 billion in such sales in 2024, a figure that was a 10.5 percent increase over 2023.

France accounted for $37.2 billion in online travel bookings in 2024, also showing significant growth from 2023, increasing by 15.3 percent. India meanwhile, experienced a 14 percent uptick in online travel bookings between 2023 and 2024 increasing to $23.8 billion last year.

Additional takeaways from the Phocuswright report include:

Global online gross bookings for hotels are projected to increase from 55 percent of the market in 2024 to 58 percent by 2026.
Phocuswright projects that the global travel market will continue to grow through 2026, with annual gains ranging between 6-9 percent. Online bookings will advance more rapidly, with annual gains from 8-12 percent.
In 2025, the U.K. is expected to overtake France in gross bookings, reclaiming a spot among the top five markets for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.