News | June 3, 2026

What the Staycation Index 2026 Means for Group Travel

Ed Maughan

Sykes has released its annual Staycation Index for 2026, drawing on booking data from 25,000 properties alongside a consumer survey of 2,000 UK adults conducted by OnePoll in April 2026. The report examines where people are holidaying, how booking behaviour is changing, and which audience segments are driving demand.

The Staycation Index is a companion piece to Sykes’ Holiday Letting Outlook Report (which we covered here). Where the Outlook Report focuses on the owner side — income, investment returns, regulatory pressures — the Staycation Index looks at the market from the guest’s perspective. For owners of larger group properties, it provides a detailed picture of who is booking UK breaks, when they travel, what influences their decisions, and where demand is heading next.

The Headline Numbers

The UK domestic holiday market remains in good health. 64% of UK adults plan to take a UK break in 2026, with 38% choosing it as their main holiday — a figure that is up four percentage points year-on-year. Average spend on a main UK trip stands at £1,171, and domestic tourism contributes over £32 billion in annual overnight visitor spending, according to UK Parliament figures.

When nearly two-thirds of the adult population is planning a UK break, the addressable market for large properties — houses sleeping eight or more, estates, converted barns, multi-unit sites — is substantial.

Shorter, More Frequent Trips Are Now Standard

One of the most significant behavioural shifts in the report is the move towards shorter, more frequent breaks. British travellers are now taking an average of three UK trips per year. Over half (51%) of all 2025 bookings were classed as short breaks of six days or less, and this pattern is continuing into 2026.

Planning windows are also tightening. The average lead time for bookings is now around 101 days, down from previous years. Nearly a third (31%) of trips in 2026 are being booked within a month of departure.

For owners of large group properties, these trends have practical implications. Group bookings have traditionally been planned well in advance as we shared in our 2025 year in review — birthday celebrations, reunions and hen weekends tend to be organised months ahead. That pattern has not disappeared, but it now coexists with a growing segment of shorter-notice, shorter-duration group stays. A walking weekend organised ten days before travel, a midweek break for a group of friends who find a gap in their diaries — these are bookings that larger properties can capture, but only if availability is visible, minimum stay requirements are reasonable, and the booking process is straightforward.

Off-Peak Demand Is Growing

The seasonal picture is shifting in ways that benefit owners who can attract guests outside of summer. While August remains the most popular month to travel, followed by May and July, the fastest growth is happening at the margins of the calendar. October bookings were up 11% year-on-year in 2025 according to the report. January bookings rose 12%. Winter bookings overall were up 5%. Spring is gaining ground too, with April bookings up 15% and May rising sharply in popularity since 2023; perhaps not surprising considering the (largely) stellar weather we have enjoyed this year in May.

For large group properties, this is an important development. Peak summer weeks in popular destinations tend to book well regardless. The challenge — and the opportunity — lies in filling the property through autumn, winter and early spring. Groups are particularly well-suited to off-peak travel because they are not tied to school holiday dates in the way families are. A group of twelve friends taking a long weekend in November, or a corporate team booking a midweek retreat in February, represents exactly the kind of demand that is growing according to this data.

Properties that perform well in off-peak months tend to share certain characteristics: they have features that work in cold weather (log burners, hot tubs, games rooms), they are in locations with year-round appeal (countryside, heritage towns, accessible national parks), and they are priced to reflect the season rather than holding firm at peak rates throughout the year.

Where People Want to Go

The Most Popular UK Staycation Destinations

Cumbria retains its position as the UK’s number one staycation region for 2026, based on bookings. The top ten regions are:

When asked which specific locations they most want to visit, the consumer survey produced a slightly different top ten:

Coastal destinations continue to dominate the wish list, though the inclusion of Ambleside, Grasmere, Bakewell and Bourton-on-the-Water confirms that countryside and heritage locations hold strong appeal. For group accommodation owners, the presence of the Lake District and Cotswolds locations on this list is consistent with what we see in our own data — these are areas where large properties command premium rates and attract group bookings throughout the year.

The report also identifies ten trending locations based on year-on-year booking growth:

Several of these are smaller, less well-known locations — exactly the kind of places where a distinctive large property can become a destination in its own right. A group booking a house that sleeps sixteen in Beddgelert or Oban is not just choosing the property because it happens to be near a major tourist attraction. They are choosing it because the property itself, combined with the landscape and setting, offers something they cannot get elsewhere. In trending locations with limited large-property supply, the right house or estate can effectively set its own market.

Who Is Booking Staycations in 2026

The generational breakdown in the report is worth understanding in detail because different age groups book differently, spend differently, and have different expectations of group accommodation.

Gen Z (18–28) Holiday Booking Trends 2026

Gen Z are described as the generation most likely to holiday in the UK. Their key characteristics, according to the report:

53% plan to take their main holiday domestically, and 72% will take at least one UK trip
They average three UK breaks per year
They are the generation most likely to travel with friends
Their top three destinations are St Ives, Brighton and Robin Hood’s Bay.

For group accommodation owners, the friend-group travel pattern is the key insight. Gen Z groups tend to be larger, more social and more price-sensitive per person than older demographics. They are drawn to properties with shared social spaces, outdoor areas, and proximity to activities.

They are also the generation most likely to discover properties through social media and AI tools (more on that below). The per-person economics of a large property work strongly in favour of younger groups, often comparing favourably to hotels or other accommodation types.

Millennials (29–44) Holiday Booking Trends 2026

Millennials are the highest-spending and most frequent travellers in the report:

Highest average spend at £1,306 per main UK break
Most frequent travellers, taking four UK trips per year
50% travel with children under 18, and 68% travel with a partner
Strong demand for family-friendly and experience-led stays
Their top three destinations are St Ives, Brighton and Ambleside.

This is the core demographic for multi-generational group bookings — the family gathering where parents, grandparents and children all stay under one roof. Properties that can accommodate this kind of group (multiple bedrooms with flexible sleeping arrangements, a large kitchen and dining area, a safe garden for children, perhaps an annex or separate space for grandparents) are well-positioned to capture this segment. The willingness to spend £1,306 on a main UK break suggests that millennial-led groups are not primarily motivated by finding the cheapest option. They are looking for quality, space and a setting that justifies the cost.

Gen X and Boomers (45+) Holiday Booking Trends 2026

This is a more selective but consistent group of travellers:

Around 60% plan a UK break each year
Lower likelihood than younger groups to choose the UK as their main holiday destination
Prefer travelling with a partner (60–70%)
Strong preference for cottage-style and countryside breaks
Their top three destinations are St Ives, Ambleside and Grasmere.

For group accommodation, this demographic drives two distinct booking types. The first is the couples’ group — four or five couples in their fifties or sixties booking a large house for a long weekend of walking, cooking and catching up. The second is the multi-generational trip, where Gen X or Boomer grandparents are part of a broader family gathering organised by their millennial children. Both represent high-value bookings where the quality of accommodation is a primary consideration.

Pets and Group Stays

27% of all 2025 Sykes bookings included a pet. This figure, combined with Sykes’ earlier observation that more dogs than children holiday with them each year, confirms pet-friendliness as a significant factor in booking decisions. For large group properties with gardens and outdoor space, accepting dogs is a relatively simple way to access a meaningful segment of demand.

How AI Is Changing Holiday Home and Group Stay Discovery

The report includes a dedicated section on AI-powered holiday planning, and the data is striking:

15% of all UK travellers say AI influenced their choice of destination in 2026, increasing to 28% for millennials and 30% for Gen Z
Over half (55%) of Gen Z use AI for destination inspiration, compared to 26% of the overall population
Almost a third of Gen Z use AI to build full itineraries (28%) and to find accommodation (30%)

For owners of group properties, this has direct implications for how listings and web content should be structured. When a guest asks an AI assistant to suggest large houses sleeping twelve in the Lake District with a hot tub and dog-friendly garden, the AI draws on whatever information it can find about the property — listing descriptions, reviews, website content, FAQs. Properties with detailed, well-structured content that clearly describes capacity, amenities, location and policies are more likely to surface in AI-generated recommendations. Likewise, ensuring you have the right schema in place for your property across your listings is key (GroupAccommodation.com takes care of this for you, if you list with us!)

This is still an emerging channel, but the growth rate suggests it will become a significant source of discovery within the next two to three years, particularly among younger demographics who are the most likely to book group trips with friends.

Multi-Stay Holidays and the Rise of Set-Jetting

Two additional trends in the report are worth noting for group accommodation owners.

Multi-Stay Trips

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of UK travellers are planning or considering a multi-stay UK holiday — visiting multiple locations in a single trip. This rises to 74% of millennials and 85% of Gen Z. On average, multi-stay travellers visit three locations per trip, rising to four among Gen Z.

For larger properties, multi-stay behaviour can work in two directions, although it’s always going to be less practical to move a big group between multiple accommodation venues.

It may mean shorter individual stays as groups split their trip across locations. But it also means that a well-positioned large property can be one stop on a longer itinerary — a group might spend two nights in Edinburgh, three nights in a large house in the Lake District, and two nights in York. Properties that accept short stays and are located in areas with strong transport links or proximity to other destinations are well placed to capture this type of booking if they do happen for larger groups.

Set-Jetting

Over two-thirds (67%) of UK travellers would consider visiting somewhere they have discovered in a film or TV series. The top set-jetting locations for 2026 are:

Birmingham and the Black Country (Peaky Blinders)
Northern Ireland (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms)
Northumberland (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom)
Buckinghamshire (Bridgerton)
Lake District (Bridget Jones)

At GroupAccommodation.com, we have some fantastic properties that have featured in TV shows in 2026 – Penpont was a location for The Other Bennet Sister, and Darwin Lake featured on Graham Norton’s ‘The Neighbourhood’.

What This Means for Group Accommodation Owners

Reading across both the Staycation Index and the earlier Outlook Report, the picture for owners of larger group properties is consistent and encouraging.

Demand for UK breaks is broad, sustained, and growing among younger demographics who are the most likely to travel in groups. Spending is robust. Booking behaviour is shifting towards shorter, more frequent stays with tighter planning windows, which creates more opportunities to fill gaps in the calendar if owners are willing to be flexible on changeover days and minimum stays.

The locations that perform best are those with year-round appeal — countryside, heritage and accessible coastal destinations rather than places that depend solely on summer footfall. Off-peak demand is rising, and groups are particularly well-suited to shoulder-season travel because they are less constrained by school holidays.

AI is becoming a meaningful discovery channel, particularly among younger travellers, and properties with detailed, well-structured content will benefit disproportionately as this trend accelerates.

The fundamentals have not changed: quality accommodation in good locations, marketed clearly to the right audience, with operational flexibility around booking patterns. What has changed is the breadth of the market, the diversity of guest types, and the number of ways potential guests can find and evaluate a property before they book.

Data and findings referenced in this post are drawn from the Sykes Staycation Index 2026, based on bookings data for 25,000 properties and consumer research of 2,000 UK adults conducted by OnePoll in April 2026.

Owner Resources| September 12, 2019

What the Staycation Index 2026 Means for Group Travel

The Headline Numbers