Jamie Biesiada
The remainder of 2026 appears to be a mixed bag for travel advisors when it comes to booking volume.
In a Travel Weekly reader survey conducted in March, completed by 239 advisors, the number of advisors reporting bookings were ahead and behind last year's pace was tied at 38.5%.
Specifically, 8.4% of respondents said their volume of bookings for the remainder of the year was significantly ahead compared to the same time last year, while 30.1% said it was slightly ahead. And 27.6% said booking volume was slightly behind, while 10.9% said it was significantly behind. The remainder, 23%, said booking volume was about the same.
Bookings a year and two years ahead of departure are dragging a bit behind last year, advisors reported.
For the full year of 2027, 27.9% of advisors said their booking volume was ahead, 35.8% said it was about the same and 35.3% said it was behind the same time period last year.
For the full year of 2028, 13.1% said their booking volume was ahead, 40.9% said it was about the same and 46.2% said it was behind the same time period last year.
The survey also asked travel advisors about the value of bookings for 2026, 2027 and 2028; results closely mirrored the volume of forward bookings.
While 2027 and 2028 numbers aren't pointing toward particularly robust years, all is certainly not lost, especially as the trend of close-in bookings appears to be continuing.
Advisors were polled about booking windows in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to establish a baseline; the close-in trend really got rolling last summer.
In 2024, advisors reported the most common booking window was 7 to 12 months (39.5%), followed by 4 to 6 months (34.4%). Only 9.8% reported 1 to 3 months as the most common booking window.
Those numbers began to shift in 2025, when 35.5% reported 7 to 12 months as their most common booking window, and 39.5% reported it was 4 to 6 months; 14.5% reported the most common booking window was 1 to 3 months, up nearly five percentage points from 2024.
In the 2026 survey, the percentage of advisors reporting 1 to 3 months as the most common booking window rocketed up to 25.4%. And 38.1% said 4 to 6 months was the most common, followed by 25.8% reporting 7 to 12 months as the most common.
In an open-ended question that closed the survey, advisors expressed a gamut of opinions. Some said business was up, some said it was down. Many offered thoughts on what's happening, from geopolitical issues to pricing.
"I've had more clients book last-minute vacations than ever before," wrote one advisor based in Bergen County, N.J., stating they believed travelers are increasingly concerned with the economy and its effects on them.
Courtney Feiock of Enchanted Travel Company in Pottstown, Pa., said, "I've definitely noticed shorter booking windows and more last-minute travelers, which can make planning a bit unpredictable. Pricing is also a big factor right now."
Feiock said demand remains strong. "It's a really exciting time, but definitely one that requires flexibility and quick adaptation," she said.
Another advisor based in New York City said luxury clients are booking Europe and the U.K. "well into 2026," though some are looking to book within a one- to two-month window.
"But more so, the trend is for travel in late spring, summer and some into fall," the advisor added.
A lull in client travel could also mean big things ahead, said an advisor based in Dublin, Ohio.
"I am getting a sense from my clients who want to wait and see what happens especially with the global conflict going on, which will impact costs of oil and thus airline prices," the advisor wrote. "I am also seeing greater lengths of time between bookings as my clients want to save up and take bigger trips."