Group travel is growing. Payments haven’t kept up.

The rise of travelling together

My family and I travel frequently with close friends. Like many people, we choose villas, holiday homes, and increasingly winery stays, because travelling together is enjoyable and often makes exceptional experiences affordable.

But there is always the same moment of friction.

Once we have agreed on the property and dates, one person is expected to put the entire cost on their card upfront. That person carries the financial burden, absorbs card fees, manages exchange rates, and waits to be reimbursed. It is inconvenient, costly, and unfair.

This is not a niche experience. Group holidays are becoming the norm. Friends travel together. Extended families share villas. Groups book winery stays, tastings, and vineyard accommodation. Across travel and hospitality, more bookings now involve multiple decision makers and multiple payers.

Yet, while how people travel has changed, how they are asked to pay has not.

Travel, wine and hospitality are social by nature

Across many industries, purchasing has become more social. Consumers increasingly discover products together, discuss options in group chats, and make collective decisions. At Cobuyr, we coined this behaviour Social Buying to describe how people now decide and purchase collectively rather than individually.

Few categories reflect Social Buying more clearly than travel and wine.

Holidays are planned together. Villas are chosen together. Winery stays, châteaux visits, tastings, and experiences are shared moments designed for groups. Yet, despite this, most online booking journeys across holiday rentals, châteaux, and wineries still assume a single payer who is willing to cover the full cost upfront.

This creates a growing disconnect between real customer behaviour and digital checkout experiences.

Where bookings break down

For tour operators, holiday property managers, châteaux, wineries, and independent destinations, the problem often appears late in the journey.

A group agrees on dates.

They choose the villa, château, or winery experience.

They are ready to book.

Then one person is expected to pay everything.

At that point, hesitation creeps in. The booking is paused while money is collected. Messages are exchanged. Payments are coordinated manually.

In many cases, the booking is delayed or abandoned altogether.This is Social Buying colliding with a checkout experience designed for individual purchases.

By not enabling group buying with split payments online, businesses introduce friction at the most valuable moment in the customer journey.

Modern buyers expect to pay instantly

Today’s travellers and wine consumers are savvy digital buyers.

They are used to seamless, modern checkout experiences across retail, dining, and entertainment. When they are ready to buy, they expect to pay there and then.

Yet, many bookings still rely on enquiry forms, follow up emails, or offline payment coordination. For group bookings, whether for a villa stay, a château experience, or a winery visit, this delay is amplified.

Momentum is lost. Attention shifts. Confidence fades.

For Social Buying, timing matters. When the group has agreed, the ability to complete payment immediately and together is critical.

Savvy buyers are not unwilling to pay. They are unwilling to wait.

Split payments as a conversion driver

Split payments remove this friction.

They allow one guest to initiate a booking while others securely pay their share in real time. No one needs to front the full cost. No one needs to chase payments. The booking is completed while intent is at its highest.

For holiday rentals, châteaux, and wineries, this delivers clear commercial benefits:

• Higher booking conversion for group stays and experiences
• Faster decision making and shorter sales cycles
• Fewer abandoned checkouts for high value bookings

In a market where competition is intense and acquisition costs continue to rise, improving conversion from existing demand is one of the most effective levers available.

Social Buying creates insight, not just transactions

Social Buying does not end at checkout. When group buying with split payments is enabled, it reveals how decisions are actually made.

Who initiates the booking.

Who influences the group.

Who commits quickly and who hesitates.

These insights are largely invisible in traditional booking journeys, yet they are incredibly valuable.

For holiday rentals, châteaux, and wineries, understanding Social Buying behaviour enables smarter engagement after the visit or stay. Instead of treating a group booking as a single customer, operators gain visibility into multiple individuals, each with their own preferences and likelihood to return.

This opens the door to more personalised follow up, repeat visits, and longer term customer relationships across travel and wine experiences.

The cost of standing still

The absence of split payments rarely shows up clearly in reports. Bookings still happen. What is less visible are the bookings that never convert.

As expectations evolve, brands that fail to modernise their checkout experience risk appearing outdated or inconvenient. Competitors that remove payment friction win by default.

Split payments are no longer a niche feature. They are becoming a baseline expectation for Social Buying.

Final thought

Group travel and shared experiences are growing. Social Buying, as we define it at Cobuyr, is accelerating across holidays, châteaux, and wineries.

For tour operators, holiday property managers, wineries, and independent destinations, enabling group buying with split payments is one of the simplest ways to align with real consumer behaviour, improve conversion, and build stronger long term customer relationships.

The question is no longer whether guests want to buy together.

It is whether your booking experience is built for Social Buying.