Why Early Booking Campaigns Are Essential for 2026

How to win next year before the year’s even begun

According to the South West Visitor Economy Report (August 2025), the average lead time for holiday bookings is now 105 days, that’s 8% shorter than last year.

But here’s the thing: average doesn’t mean everyone’s booking 15 weeks out or less.

Not even close. Here’s a short explainer on how it works and what it means for marketeers.

Let’s Break It Down

Imagine you’ve got five customers:

• Alice books 200 days before her trip

• Ben books 150 days ahead

• Carla books 120 days ahead

• Dan books 35 days ahead

• Emily books 20 days ahead

That’s a total of 525 days, divided by five giving an average of 105 days.

But that average hides a crucial truth: only two of those customers booked last minute (under six weeks out), while three booked months in advance. The mean just smooths out those extremes into a single number that doesn’t tell the full story. Which means, we me may just be seeing an increase in bookings that have a shorter leads time, which can we throwing the averages out.

Why This Matters for Holiday Parks

That 105 day figure shows there’s a growing segment of late bookers, but there’s also a huge number of early planners booking 3–6+ months out.
And if you want to capture them, you need to be marketing now.

At the same time, don’t ditch your short lead tactics. There will always be people booking late. But if you only show up in August for August, or any only working 6 weeks ahead you’ll miss the customers who’ve already locked in their perfect lodge, location, and dates.

Those early bookers? They’re your opportunity. They’re planning now. Comparing. Shortlisting.
And if your park isn’t visible during this discovery phase, they’ll book elsewhere long before your January campaign even begins.

Forget peak season. Think pre-peak attention.

January Isn’t the Only Early Booking Goldmine Anymore

Traditionally, January has been the golden goose of holiday bookings with people rushing to lock in those all important days, secure holiday through work and make sure they have something to look forward to throughout the darker months.
But with early planners and price driven bookers now taking action in October, November, and December, your campaign window needs a serious rethink.

That’s why we’d always recommend a Black Friday Sale. Black Friday isn’t just for TVs and toasters anymore , it’s a prime opportunity to:

• Launch early booking incentives

• Lock in high-intent planners and raise occupancy early

• Beat the January competition and higher costs in Google ads.

• And from a business perspective - this should also help cash flow.

The Smart Money’s on the Early Birds

As we head into the final quarter, remember that large operators often ramp up their paid media budgets in January. They flood Google and Facebook with spend to dominate visibility and drive early booking volume. That surge can make it harder (and more expensive) for smaller brands to cut through, even if you’re running well-structured campaigns.

That’s why now is the time to stay active and strategic. Keep your foot on the gas with social media, email, and app communications. This is your window to stay top of mind with your existing guests and nurture those thinking about it audiences before the January bidding war begins.

By maintaining momentum through Q4, you’re not only driving late-season interest, you’re also setting yourself up for a stronger start to the new year. When January arrives, your ads can focus on attracting new customers, while your repeat guests are already primed to book direct with you, instead of being swept up by a competitor’s campaign.

In short: don’t wait for January to compete with the big budgets. Outthink them now by building loyalty, awareness, and intent before they even start spending.

Here’s how:

• Start early. Run top-of-funnel brand activity from October to stay front of mind when intent spikes.

• Segment and personalise. Tailor offers to audience needs, a low deposit or instalment plan might drive more family bookings than a simple 10% discount.

• Nurture warm leads. Retarget website visitors and email opens with countdowns, bundle deals, or real-time availability nudges. Facebook and Google Ads are your allies here.

Back to That 105-Day Stat…

If your lead time is 105 days, that means a huge portion of your 2026 holidaymakers will book between October and December 2025.

If you wait until January, and they’re already gone (February half term is the exception here)

The shift isn’t just that ALL bookings are coming in later- it’s that some bookings are way later and that early curve is growing. Cash strapped family’s like to spread the cost of there holiday over longer and grab a bargain in a sale. While others are holding out til the 11th hour to wait for the weather and a last minute price drop bargain.

Start visibility campaigns now. Craft some compelling early offers - remember if you can get occupancy up now, you can hold or raise rate later.

2026 won’t be won in January alone or through last-minute deals- it’ll be won by not taking your foot of the break in Q4 2025. The holiday parks that understood the numbers and showed up early will get ahead.

Ready to Capture Early Bookers?

The early birds are already browsing let’s make sure they find you.

Book a no fluff strategy session with me and we’ll map out exactly how to capture early bookings now to give you the best chance of success in 2026.

Credit SW Visitor Data Hub