In its latest earnings call for Q3 2020 Q3, online travel firm Booking Holdings senior executives are predicting a second dip in cancellation rates in November and December before a U-shaped recovery in the Spring of 2021.

The company is forecasting a loss in the fourth quarter despite seeing improved results in Q3 of this year, as Covid infections surge around the world and respective governments impose new restrictions on domestic and international travel.

While Booking announced global trends had improved between April and July, analysts had noted a flattening of those trends in August and September, which is expected to decelerate for the rest of the year.

The earnings call also highlighted that booked room nights globally were down 70% year-on-year in early November, compared to October (down 58%) and Q3 (down 43%). The average daily rate in Q3 was also down 8% on Q2, which was down 35% on Q1.

David Goulden, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Booking, said: “Unfortunately, as we moved into September, we saw Covid case counts climbing higher in many European countries and governments beginning to respond with the imposition of travel restrictions. This difficult pattern continued throughout the month of October, leading to a further slowdown in bookings in Europe.”