Direct bookings
Direct Booking Statistics 2026 for UK Glamping Sites
The published direct booking figures are mostly for hotels. Here's what they say, and how to measure your own site.
Most published figures are for hotels, not a shepherd’s hut or three pods on a farm. Here are the direct booking statistics that do exist, and what they mean for a small UK site.
The best-sourced number is a global average of around 28% of travellers booking direct, from a hotel software firm’s survey. For a glamping site, the most useful benchmark is your own share last year. We also show how to measure it.
What the published direct booking statistics show
Around 28% of travellers book direct worldwide, according to SiteMinder’s Changing Traveller Report 2026. SiteMinder surveyed 12,000 travellers in 14 countries about their hotel stays, so the figure is a global average with big differences between countries.
In the U.S. the same report found 40% booking direct, up from 36% a year earlier, according to Hotel Management. SiteMinder also found online travel agencies had overtaken search engines as the main starting point for hotel research, at 26% of travellers, up from 18%. Both are reminders that OTAs remain a big part of how guests find places.
We couldn’t find a trustworthy UK-specific series for glamping, so we haven’t quoted one.
Direct vs OTA share at a glance
The table pulls the sourced numbers together so you can see what each one covers.
| Figure | What it covers | Reported by |
|---|---|---|
| Around 28% of travellers book direct | Global average, hotel stays | SiteMinder, Changing Traveller Report 2026 |
| 40% book direct, up from 36% | U.S. travellers, hotel stays | SiteMinder, via Hotel Management |
| 26% start hotel research on an OTA, up from 18% | Global, hotel stays | SiteMinder, Changing Traveller Report 2026 |
Notice what’s missing. There’s no published UK figure for glamping sites, holiday lets or campsites that we’d trust enough to quote. If you see one without a clear source, be careful with it.
Why hotel figures only go so far for glamping
Hotel statistics describe businesses with hundreds of rooms, big marketing teams and loyalty schemes. A glamping site with a few units and a quiet midweek behaves differently.
Three differences matter.
- Fewer units. One extra direct booking moves your percentage far more than it would for a hotel.
- Stronger listing reliance. An owner who starts on Airbnb, CoolStays or Canopy & Stars may well have a low direct share early on.
- Seasonality. A wet August and a dry one can swing a single month’s split, so one month tells you little.
So use the hotel figures for direction, not as a pass mark. A small site at 15% direct and climbing is in a better place than one stuck at 30%.
Guests look for you after the listing
Finding you on a listing doesn’t stop a guest looking for you directly. Some will search for the owner’s own site afterwards, hoping for a better deal.
This is an observation rather than a published statistic, but it explains why a good website works alongside a listing. If your name, location and unit type bring up a clear, fast site with live dates, some of those guests may book there instead.
If your site is slow on a phone, has no way to check dates or doesn’t show up on Google, they go back to the listing. That can be a booking you paid commission on that you might not have needed to.
How to work out your own direct booking percentage
Your direct booking percentage is direct bookings divided by total bookings, times 100, over the same period. It takes ten minutes with a spreadsheet and last year’s calendar.
- Pick a 12-month period, such as April to March.
- List every confirmed booking. Include listings, your own site, phone and email.
- Tag each one by source, for example Airbnb, CoolStays, Canopy & Stars, Booking.com or direct.
- Count direct and divide by the total.
- Do the same for revenue, not just booking count, as direct stays are sometimes longer or shorter.
A table makes the result easy to read.
| Measure | How to calculate | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Direct share of bookings | Direct bookings ÷ all bookings × 100 | Your headline benchmark |
| Direct share of revenue | Direct revenue ÷ all revenue × 100 | Shows if direct guests stay longer |
| Commission paid | Total fees to listing sites | The cost of not booking direct |
What a first year of direct bookings can look like
A new site doesn’t start at 28%. It starts wherever your repeat guests and your Google visibility take it.
Millie the Hut, a shepherd’s hut and Shack near Presteigne in the Welsh Marches, is one real data point. Its website, built by Rory, brought 42 direct bookings in its first year and saved the owners over £3,000 in commission. That works out at more than £70 of commission avoided per booking.
The booking page helps. It puts an availability calendar, a short enquiry form and a seasonal rate card with midweek and weekend prices and minimum stays on one page, so a guest doesn’t have to hunt for the price.
If you’d like to see how your own site compares, send it to us for a free audit.
Direct booking trends worth watching
We can’t point to a published trend for glamping, but a few practical habits are worth planning for.
- Guests browse on phones. If your dates and prices are hard to use on a phone, some guests will leave.
- Booking on your own site. An embedded booking system with online payments can remove the step where a guest gives up and returns to the listing. Our page on Anytime Booking for campsites and glamping covers one option.
- Calendars that match. If your site and listings show different availability, you get double bookings or empty nights. Syncing your calendar with Airbnb, Booking.com, Canopy & Stars and CoolStays keeps them in step.
Statistics accurate as of October 2026.
FAQs
What is a good percentage of direct bookings for a holiday let?
There’s no single published UK figure for holiday lets or glamping. A hotel-sector global average of around 28% is a rough reference point. A better target is your own share a year ago, then aim to beat it each season.
How do I work out my direct booking percentage?
Count every confirmed booking in a set period, then count the ones that came through your own website, email or phone. Divide direct by total and multiply by 100. Use the same period each year, such as April to March, so the comparison is fair.
Are direct bookings really growing compared with OTAs?
We couldn’t find a trustworthy published trend for glamping or holiday lets. SiteMinder’s 2026 survey found 40% of U.S. travellers booking direct, up from 36%, but that covers hotels. Your own numbers, tracked yearly, tell you more.
Do guests who find me on a listing site ever book direct?
Yes, it can happen. Some guests find a place on a listing, then search for the owner’s own website hoping for a better deal. A clear, fast site with live dates gives them a reason to book there.
How often should I check my direct booking share?
Once a quarter is plenty for a small site. Bookings are seasonal, so a month-to-month swing means little. Compare the same quarter year on year, and look at the full year as your headline number.
Find out what’s stopping your site getting bookings
We build websites for glamping sites, holiday lets and campsites, and you can read more about us and how we work. Send us your website and we’ll tell you, for free, what’s stopping it getting bookings. Request your free website audit.