Easter hotel bookings show ‘robust recovery,’ renewed traveler confidence: SiteMinder

Dive Brief:

U.S. hotel bookings are up nearly 17% year over year for the upcoming Easter holiday weekend, bouncing back from a relatively volatile period in 2025, according to new data from hotel distribution and revenue platform SiteMinder.
According to the data shared Wednesday with Hotel Dive, the average length of stay for U.S. guests also has increased by 2.53% to 2.03 days from 1.98 days in 2025, with total room nights booked up by 19.63%. Additionally, booking lead times have decreased by 10.89% and cancellations have decreased by around 21%, indicative of growing traveler confidence compared to Easter last year, per SiteMinder.
The data comes amid travel disruptions due to an ongoing partial U.S. government shutdown that left Transportation Security Administration workers without pay for a period. Brian Reising, regional vice president of U.S. and Latin America for SiteMinder, said in a statement that the latest data shows how consumers are shifting to increasingly prioritize travel, “and that uncertain conditions can actually increase the desire to travel” particularly for key demand-driving events like Easter.

Dive Insight:

Reising added that while the “robust recovery” in booking volumes and length of stay are positive, hoteliers “should avoid sacrificing yield to fill rooms.”

“Rates have remained resilient, rising roughly in line with inflation, but hoteliers must ensure they have effective pricing and upselling strategies in place to leverage peak demand times and maximize revenue,” he said.

SiteMinder’s analysis compares Easter bookings from April 2-6, 2026 (with Easter falling on April 5), with bookings from April 17-April 21, 2025 (with Easter falling on April 20), and measured 17 days before the start of the holidays. It uses data at the same properties across eight major markets where Easter is a major public holiday, including the U.S., the U.K., Mexico, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Across markets, hotel bookings grew by an average of 11.66% year on year and total room nights went up by nearly 17.5%, per SiteMinder’s release. Additionally, cancellations declined year over year, and the average length of stay increased to 2.16 days from 2.05 days.

Booking recovery for the upcoming Easter holiday arrives a couple of months ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, during which hoteliers are anticipating lower-than-expected demand.