Localisation report
booking.com
Product: Booking.com is an online travel booking platform for finding and reserving accommodations, flights, car rentals, cruises, attractions, and airport taxis. It offers properties and travel services across destinations worldwide.
Brand voice: helpful, trustworthy, value-focused
Localisation score
64/100
Needs improvementUsers may encounter noticeable localisation problems.
Sampled 15 pages across technical, linguistic, contextual, and visual localisation credits. How we score localisation audits
Rank #17 of 24 public audits
Valid sitemap not found
No fetchable XML sitemap with URL entries was found at /sitemap.xml or via robots.txt.
Found here
Sitemap · sitemap.xml
What we saw
robots.txt was found, but it does not reference a sitemap and /sitemap.xml was missing or empty
How to fix it
Publish a valid XML sitemap and reference it from robots.txt with an absolute Sitemap: URL.
Untranslated call to action
A fr page still uses source-language CTA copy.
Found here
Primary action · <button>
https://www.booking.com/index.fr.htmlWhat we saw
Primary CTA: "Arts & Culture"
How to fix it
Translate leftover source-language CTAs to match the surrounding locale copy.
Terminology inconsistency
"Arts & Culture" appears both untranslated and translated across fr pages. Affects 4 sampled pages.
Found here
Header · <nav> or <button>
https://www.booking.com/index.fr.htmlWhat we saw
"Arts & Culture" appears untranslated on some fr pages and translated on others Seen on 2 pages, e.g. https://www.booking.com/index.fr.html, https://www.booking.com/index.es.html
How to fix it
Use one translated label for "Arts & Culture" across fr pages.
7 passed · 20 to fix · 8 not applicable
Language switcher
Fail55technicalVisitors should move between locales without losing the current page.
Locale availability is listed, but path preservation is not demonstrated
The evidence lists many supported locales but does not show the language-switcher control or destination URLs for a non-homepage path.
Found here
Header · <nav>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"locales":["ar","bg","ca","cs","da","de","el","en-gb","en-us","es-ar","es-mx",...], with page samples only showing "https://www.booking.com/" and "https://www.booking.com/region/gb/england.html"
How to fix it
Verify that switching locale from a deep page retains the same path and relevant query or booking state.
Sitemap
Fail18technicalLike Lighthouse: a valid XML sitemap must be discoverable, robots.txt should reference it with an absolute Sitemap: URL, and localized URLs should appear for published locales.
Valid sitemap not found
No fetchable XML sitemap with URL entries was found at /sitemap.xml or via robots.txt.
Found here
Sitemap · sitemap.xml
What we saw
robots.txt was found, but it does not reference a sitemap and /sitemap.xml was missing or empty
How to fix it
Publish a valid XML sitemap and reference it from robots.txt with an absolute Sitemap: URL.
Structured data
Fail0technicalJSON-LD inLanguage should match the page locale when structured data is present.
Structured data omits inLanguage
JSON-LD is present but does not declare inLanguage on sampled pages.
Found here
JSON-LD · <script type="application/ld+json">
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
WebSite is present but inLanguage is missing
How to fix it
Set JSON-LD inLanguage to match each page locale.
Accessibility localisation
Fail65technicallang, aria-label, and alt text should match the page locale.
Accessibility localisation is only verified for English
The sampled page explicitly declares English, but the evidence does not provide localized aria-label or alt-text samples for the other locales.
Found here
Document root · <html>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"htmlLang":"en-us","dir":"ltr"
How to fix it
Audit each locale’s <html lang>, accessible names, and image alt text against its rendered language.
Translation completeness
Fail50linguisticLocalized pages should not leave source-language copy in place, except brand names and URLs.
Untranslated call to action
A fr page still uses source-language CTA copy.
Found here
Primary action · <button>
https://www.booking.com/index.fr.htmlWhat we saw
Primary CTA: "Arts & Culture"
How to fix it
Translate leftover source-language CTAs to match the surrounding locale copy.
No localized page copy is available for comparison
The provided preview contains only en-us page content, so untranslated source-language strings on localized pages cannot be confirmed or ruled out.
Found here
Page content · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"htmlLang":"en-us" and visible copy including "Find deals for any season" and "Why Booking.com?"
How to fix it
Sample the same pages in each target locale and check navigation, headings, controls, and supporting copy for remaining source-language strings.
Terminology consistency
Fail40linguisticImportant concepts should not be translated differently across pages.
Terminology inconsistency
"Arts & Culture" appears both untranslated and translated across fr pages. Affects 4 sampled pages.
Found here
Header · <nav> or <button>
https://www.booking.com/index.fr.htmlWhat we saw
"Arts & Culture" appears untranslated on some fr pages and translated on others Seen on 2 pages, e.g. https://www.booking.com/index.fr.html, https://www.booking.com/index.es.html
How to fix it
Use one translated label for "Arts & Culture" across fr pages.
Translation accuracy
Fail50linguisticTarget copy should preserve the source meaning, numbers, and product actions.
Cross-locale meaning cannot be assessed from the sample
The evidence shows English source strings but no target-language translations, so preservation of meaning, numbers, and product actions is not verifiable.
Found here
Hero · <h1>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Find deals for any season" and controls including "Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date"
How to fix it
Compare localized strings with the source for intent, quantities, dates, and booking actions in their surrounding components.
Fluency
Fail50linguisticCopy should sound natural, without grammar issues or machine-translation artifacts.
Target-language fluency is not evidenced
Only en-us copy is shown; the evidence does not include target-language text that could be checked for grammar or machine-translation artifacts.
Found here
Page content · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"htmlLang":"en-us" with visible text "Skip to main content ... Find deals for any season"
How to fix it
Review representative localized pages with native speakers for natural phrasing and locale-specific idioms.
Brand voice
Fail50linguisticLocalized copy should preserve the intended tone of the source.
Localized brand voice cannot be compared
The sample provides English brand copy but no localized variants, so consistency of tone across locales is unverified.
Found here
Hero · <h1>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Find deals for any season" and "From cozy bed & breakfasts to luxury hotels"
How to fix it
Compare localized marketing copy with the English source and preserve its welcoming, consumer-oriented tone without literal phrasing.
Grammar and style
Fail50linguisticLocale-specific capitalization, punctuation, formality, and agreement should be correct.
Locale-specific style is not assessable
The evidence contains only en-us text and does not provide other locales for checking capitalization, punctuation, formality, or agreement.
Found here
Search form · <form>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date" and "2 adults · 0 children · 1 room"
How to fix it
Review each locale’s capitalization, punctuation, date conventions, formality, and plural or agreement rules in the rendered UI.
CTA intent
Fail65contextualLocalized calls to action should communicate the intended product action.
CTA intent is explicit in the English sample only
The English sample includes a clear "Search" action, but localized CTA labels are not provided for comparison.
Found here
Search form · <button>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"buttons":["HUF","Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date","2 adults · 0 children · 1 room","Search",...]
How to fix it
Verify that every locale keeps the distinction between selecting inputs and submitting the search action.
Cultural adaptation
Fail88contextualCurrency, dates, addresses, and local examples should fit the market.
UI context
Fail65contextualTranslations should fit the UI component: button, nav, form, modal, or error.
Component context is visible only for English labels
The evidence identifies buttons, headings, and navigation-like text in the English page, but does not show whether translated strings fit their components.
Found here
Search form · <form>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"buttons":["HUF","Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date","2 adults · 0 children · 1 room","Search",...]
How to fix it
Test localized labels in their actual buttons, navigation items, fields, and date controls, including long and inflected translations.
Product context
Fail65contextualLanguage should match product concepts such as plans, settings, and workflows.
Product terminology is not validated across locales
The sample exposes product concepts such as stays, flights, dates, guests, and rooms in English, but no localized terminology is supplied.
Found here
Header and search form · <nav> / <form>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Stays Flights Flight + Hotel Car rental Cruises Attractions Airport taxis" and "2 adults · 0 children · 1 room"
How to fix it
Create a locale glossary for booking concepts and verify consistent terminology across navigation, search, checkout, and account workflows.
Contextual meaning
Fail65contextualStrings should be judged in surrounding page and component context, not in isolation.
Context is present, but only in the source locale
The sample shows strings in surrounding navigation, headings, and form controls, but no translated strings are available for contextual review.
Found here
Homepage · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Find deals for any season", "Enter destination", "Select dates", and "Search" appear together in the sampled page content.
How to fix it
Review translations in their rendered page and component context rather than approving isolated string values.
Audience context
Fail70contextualLanguage should fit the intended audience, such as consumer, enterprise, or developer.
Localized images and assets
Fail50visualLanguage-specific images and alt text should match the page locale.
Localized imagery and alt text are not evidenced
The preview contains no image markup, image assets, or localized alt-text samples, so locale suitability cannot be assessed.
Found here
Page content · <img>
https://www.booking.com/How to fix it
Inspect image sources and alt attributes on each locale and replace or translate assets where the visual or embedded text is language-specific.
Text overflow
Fail60visualText should not clip, truncate unexpectedly, or overflow buttons and navigation.
Overflow cannot be verified from the text preview
The evidence lists labels and headings but provides no rendered dimensions, screenshots, or CSS results to confirm clipping or overflow.
Found here
Header and search form · <nav> / <form>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
Labels include "Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date" and "300M+ reviews from fellow travelers".
How to fix it
Run visual checks across locales and widths, allowing controls and headings to wrap or expand without clipping.
Layout breakage
Fail60visualLocalized pages should not overlap, break grids, or overflow modals.
Layout integrity is not demonstrated
The HTML/text preview does not include rendered geometry or screenshots, so overlap, broken grids, and modal overflow cannot be confirmed.
Found here
Homepage · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
The evidence provides page status, headings, buttons, and text, but no layout measurements or rendered screenshots.
How to fix it
Test long translations in navigation, search controls, cards, and dialogs at representative viewport sizes.
Responsive localisation
Fail60visualLocalized layouts should hold up across mobile, tablet, and desktop widths.
Responsive behavior is not demonstrated
The evidence contains no viewport-specific captures or responsive measurements, so mobile, tablet, and desktop behavior remains unverified.
Found here
Homepage · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
The preview lists page content but contains no viewport dimensions or responsive render results.
How to fix it
Capture each locale at mobile, tablet, and desktop widths and verify wrapping, stacking, and control accessibility.
Valid sitemap not found
No fetchable XML sitemap with URL entries was found at /sitemap.xml or via robots.txt.
Found here
Sitemap · sitemap.xml
What we saw
robots.txt was found, but it does not reference a sitemap and /sitemap.xml was missing or empty
How to fix it
Publish a valid XML sitemap and reference it from robots.txt with an absolute Sitemap: URL.
Structured data omits inLanguage
JSON-LD is present but does not declare inLanguage on sampled pages.
Found here
JSON-LD · <script type="application/ld+json">
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
WebSite is present but inLanguage is missing
How to fix it
Set JSON-LD inLanguage to match each page locale.
Untranslated call to action
A fr page still uses source-language CTA copy.
Found here
Primary action · <button>
https://www.booking.com/index.fr.htmlWhat we saw
Primary CTA: "Arts & Culture"
How to fix it
Translate leftover source-language CTAs to match the surrounding locale copy.
Terminology inconsistency
"Arts & Culture" appears both untranslated and translated across fr pages. Affects 4 sampled pages.
Found here
Header · <nav> or <button>
https://www.booking.com/index.fr.htmlWhat we saw
"Arts & Culture" appears untranslated on some fr pages and translated on others Seen on 2 pages, e.g. https://www.booking.com/index.fr.html, https://www.booking.com/index.es.html
How to fix it
Use one translated label for "Arts & Culture" across fr pages.
Locale availability is listed, but path preservation is not demonstrated
The evidence lists many supported locales but does not show the language-switcher control or destination URLs for a non-homepage path.
Found here
Header · <nav>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"locales":["ar","bg","ca","cs","da","de","el","en-gb","en-us","es-ar","es-mx",...], with page samples only showing "https://www.booking.com/" and "https://www.booking.com/region/gb/england.html"
How to fix it
Verify that switching locale from a deep page retains the same path and relevant query or booking state.
Accessibility localisation is only verified for English
The sampled page explicitly declares English, but the evidence does not provide localized aria-label or alt-text samples for the other locales.
Found here
Document root · <html>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"htmlLang":"en-us","dir":"ltr"
How to fix it
Audit each locale’s <html lang>, accessible names, and image alt text against its rendered language.
No localized page copy is available for comparison
The provided preview contains only en-us page content, so untranslated source-language strings on localized pages cannot be confirmed or ruled out.
Found here
Page content · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"htmlLang":"en-us" and visible copy including "Find deals for any season" and "Why Booking.com?"
How to fix it
Sample the same pages in each target locale and check navigation, headings, controls, and supporting copy for remaining source-language strings.
Cross-locale meaning cannot be assessed from the sample
The evidence shows English source strings but no target-language translations, so preservation of meaning, numbers, and product actions is not verifiable.
Found here
Hero · <h1>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Find deals for any season" and controls including "Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date"
How to fix it
Compare localized strings with the source for intent, quantities, dates, and booking actions in their surrounding components.
Target-language fluency is not evidenced
Only en-us copy is shown; the evidence does not include target-language text that could be checked for grammar or machine-translation artifacts.
Found here
Page content · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"htmlLang":"en-us" with visible text "Skip to main content ... Find deals for any season"
How to fix it
Review representative localized pages with native speakers for natural phrasing and locale-specific idioms.
Localized brand voice cannot be compared
The sample provides English brand copy but no localized variants, so consistency of tone across locales is unverified.
Found here
Hero · <h1>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Find deals for any season" and "From cozy bed & breakfasts to luxury hotels"
How to fix it
Compare localized marketing copy with the English source and preserve its welcoming, consumer-oriented tone without literal phrasing.
Locale-specific style is not assessable
The evidence contains only en-us text and does not provide other locales for checking capitalization, punctuation, formality, or agreement.
Found here
Search form · <form>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date" and "2 adults · 0 children · 1 room"
How to fix it
Review each locale’s capitalization, punctuation, date conventions, formality, and plural or agreement rules in the rendered UI.
CTA intent is explicit in the English sample only
The English sample includes a clear "Search" action, but localized CTA labels are not provided for comparison.
Found here
Search form · <button>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"buttons":["HUF","Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date","2 adults · 0 children · 1 room","Search",...]
How to fix it
Verify that every locale keeps the distinction between selecting inputs and submitting the search action.
Component context is visible only for English labels
The evidence identifies buttons, headings, and navigation-like text in the English page, but does not show whether translated strings fit their components.
Found here
Search form · <form>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"buttons":["HUF","Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date","2 adults · 0 children · 1 room","Search",...]
How to fix it
Test localized labels in their actual buttons, navigation items, fields, and date controls, including long and inflected translations.
Product terminology is not validated across locales
The sample exposes product concepts such as stays, flights, dates, guests, and rooms in English, but no localized terminology is supplied.
Found here
Header and search form · <nav> / <form>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Stays Flights Flight + Hotel Car rental Cruises Attractions Airport taxis" and "2 adults · 0 children · 1 room"
How to fix it
Create a locale glossary for booking concepts and verify consistent terminology across navigation, search, checkout, and account workflows.
Context is present, but only in the source locale
The sample shows strings in surrounding navigation, headings, and form controls, but no translated strings are available for contextual review.
Found here
Homepage · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
"Find deals for any season", "Enter destination", "Select dates", and "Search" appear together in the sampled page content.
How to fix it
Review translations in their rendered page and component context rather than approving isolated string values.
Localized imagery and alt text are not evidenced
The preview contains no image markup, image assets, or localized alt-text samples, so locale suitability cannot be assessed.
Found here
Page content · <img>
https://www.booking.com/How to fix it
Inspect image sources and alt attributes on each locale and replace or translate assets where the visual or embedded text is language-specific.
Overflow cannot be verified from the text preview
The evidence lists labels and headings but provides no rendered dimensions, screenshots, or CSS results to confirm clipping or overflow.
Found here
Header and search form · <nav> / <form>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
Labels include "Select datesCheck-in date — Check-out date" and "300M+ reviews from fellow travelers".
How to fix it
Run visual checks across locales and widths, allowing controls and headings to wrap or expand without clipping.
Layout integrity is not demonstrated
The HTML/text preview does not include rendered geometry or screenshots, so overlap, broken grids, and modal overflow cannot be confirmed.
Found here
Homepage · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
The evidence provides page status, headings, buttons, and text, but no layout measurements or rendered screenshots.
How to fix it
Test long translations in navigation, search controls, cards, and dialogs at representative viewport sizes.
Responsive behavior is not demonstrated
The evidence contains no viewport-specific captures or responsive measurements, so mobile, tablet, and desktop behavior remains unverified.
Found here
Homepage · <body>
https://www.booking.com/What we saw
The preview lists page content but contains no viewport dimensions or responsive render results.
How to fix it
Capture each locale at mobile, tablet, and desktop widths and verify wrapping, stacking, and control accessibility.
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