According to OYO Hotels & Homes Diwali booking trends, Indian travellers are opting for inter-state road trips and beach destinations. Jaipur, Kerala, Varanasi, Visakhapatnam and Goa are the most popular leisure destinations among Indians.
Presently, Jaipur is the most popular choice among travellers across North India
The data further highlighted that there is an influx of travellers to Jaipur from surrounding cities like Lucknow and Delhi NCR.
With respect to South India, travellers from Bengaluru and Chennai are going for road trips to Kochi in Kerala. On the other hand, Goa is attracting Indians from all over the country. Pune, followed by Bengaluru and Hyderabad top in the majority of bookings.
Harshit Vyas, SVP & COO – Franchise Business, OYO India & South Asia, said, “The festive season combined with gradual unlocks has resulted in a surge in leisure travel since September 2020. As per our Diwali booking trends, with social distancing becoming a way of life and people opting for safer travel options, road trips are here to stay, therefore, leading to an increase in inter-state travel during Diwali and the upcoming holiday season this year. We expect leisure destinations to continue gaining momentum in the coming months with rising consumer optimism for travel.”
Yatish Jain, Head of Online Revenue and Marketing, South Asia – OYO Hotels & Homes said, “As per our consumer use cases, 57 percent of respondents wish to travel for leisure, with approx. 61 percent of respondents stated that they had already decided the destination for their coming vacation. This is a testament to the steady comeback of travel in the next few months, however, while doing so, 67 percent of these consumers are also seeking safe stays.”
He added, “To further put things in perspective, as per our Diwali booking trends, we’re happy to share that, we’re witnessing the intent to book is at almost 100 percent levels as compared to pre-COVID for consumers visiting on the OYO platform and the traffic is at over 50 percent. As we move forward, we are confident that the current trend will continue with month-on-month growth in 2HFY21.”
Furthermore, 80 percent of OYO users prefer sanitised stays
Also, 46 percent are seeking regulation related information while planning their trip.
According to overall travel trends, between April and September 2020, there have been a rise in bookings with respect to business destinations. These include Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Among leisure destinations, cities like Manali, Ooty, Shimla, Munnar and Gangtok didn’t receive the same demand compared to pre-COVID times. However, since September 2020, the bookings have started rising for these destinations. In Shimla, OYO witnessed a 280 percent month-on-month growth in bookings for September 2020.
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