Searches in the seven to 13-day booking window grew 25 per cent year-on-year globally in early 2026, with APAC matching that rate, according to first-party data from Expedia Group.
Travellers are leaving it later to commit, and the numbers behind that shift are starting to firm up. Expedia Group search data covering January to March 2026 indicates a measurable shift toward shorter booking windows compared with a year earlier.
The seven- to 13-day window recorded a 25 per cent year-on-year increase in global searches. The strongest regional gains came from LATAM, up 30 per cent, followed by NORAM and APAC, both up 25 per cent.
For Australian travel advisors, the APAC figure signals that short-notice demand is no longer a fringe pattern but a growing share of how clients plan, or decline to plan, their trips.
Expedia attributes much of the movement to a more flexible, less predictable environment, in which consumers respond more directly to pricing, events, and changing circumstances rather than following a single, fixed planning pattern.
Event-driven travel is also shaping demand. Searches to the United States and Canada for this northern summer’s major football tournament rose 10 per cent year-on-year, while searches to Mexico climbed 15 per cent.
Expedia frames the data as evidence of a more dynamic booking environment in 2026, with travellers reacting to specific events, regional disruption and shifting confidence levels.
“Travel planning is becoming more flexible, with many clients waiting longer to book and responding more directly to events, pricing and changing circumstances”, said Robin Lawther, VP of Expedia TAAP and Business Development.
“For travel agents, this creates a clear opportunity to add value in the moment, especially given Expedia TAAP’s strength in supporting last-minute demand– helping clients move quickly, navigate choice confidently and secure the right trip even on a shorter booking window”.
Expedia TAAP, the company’s travel advisor affiliate program, reports having more than 40,000 agencies and over 200,000 travel advisors on its books across 35 markets.
KARRYON UNPACKS: Shorter booking windows put pressure on advisors to convert quickly, but they also reframe the value of human expertise when clients want to move at speed without sifting through options alone. Event-led spikes to the United States, Canada and Mexico suggest the calendar, not just the destination, is increasingly driving the decision.
