The U.K. travel market reached a record £56.6 billion in gross bookings in 2025, driven by strong demand and Europe’s highest online penetration rate at 90%, according to a new report from Phocuswright.

The findings come ahead of Phocuswright Europe, taking place June 15 to 17 in Barcelona, where global travel leaders will address the major forces shaping travel to and from Europe.  Despite the growth, Phocuswright’s new U.K. Travel Market Essentials 2026 report finds that the country’s distribution landscape has settled into a stable pattern.  Online travel agency (OTA) share has declined for three consecutive years, while supplier direct gains remain modest.

According to the research, OTA gross bookings hit £10.3 billion in 2025, an all‑time high in absolute terms.  However, the OTA portion of total gross bookings fell from 22% in 2023 to 20% in 2025 and is projected to drop to 19% by 2029.  Supplier direct channels, despite years of investment in digital platforms, are expected to move only slightly from 78% to 81% over the same period.

Three companies dominate the OTA landscape.  Booking Holdings accounts for 44% of OTA gross bookings, followed by Trainline at 23% and Expedia Group at 16%.  OTA growth has slowed sharply, falling from 27% in 2023 to just 3% in 2025.

Hotels remain the only segment where the competitive balance is still fluid. Supplier direct and OTA channels hold near‑equal share at 35% and 32% respectively, with only marginal shifts expected through 2029.

A major structural change could come from Great British Railways, the new state‑integrated rail body launching in 2027.  Its authority to centralize fare management and ticketing could reshape the distribution model that underpins Trainline’s market position.

“Strong demand and weakening macro conditions are not mutually exclusive, and right now the U.K. market has both,” said Pete Comeau, managing director at Phocuswright. “U.K. residents took 44.7 million outbound trips in the first half of 2025 alone, against a GDP forecast that has since been cut to 0.7% for 2026. The question for travel companies is not whether growth continues. It is whether their planning assumptions reflect a market that looks meaningfully different heading into the second half of 2026 than it did a year ago.”

Phocuswright’s U.K. Travel Market Essentials 2026 provides a full view of distribution trends, competitive dynamics and segment forecasts across the market.

Phocuswright Europe 2026 will bring senior leaders together in Barcelona this June for executive interviews, research presentations and discussions on the trends driving Europe’s travel economy.  Registration and program details are available at www.phocuswrighteurope.com.