“Long-weekend cheer is back, and many are eagerly waiting to head-out to make the most of this upcoming weekend,” said Vipul Prakash, COO, MakeMyTrip. Goa remains the strongest contender, ranking alongside the edgy suburbs — with more than 100% increase in flight search queries — as the ideal beach destination for unwinding.
As per data recorded on Goibibo, there is a consistent week-on-week increase in bookings across hotels and alternate accommodation properties in some of the preferred leisure hotspots.
As consumer travel sentiments remain strong towards traveling, the hospitality industry is optimistic about the future of travel and the return of leisure as international borders have reopened. “The sector is expected to grow by around 80%-90% this year,” says Aditya Gupta, Senior VP of Yatra.com.
“So far, 2022 has been promising for the travel and hospitality industry owing to higher consumer confidence to travel, especially this season,” Shreerang Godbole, SVP – product & chief service officer of Oyo told Business Insider India.
Indians are also shelling out more money for the long weekend, as 4-star hotels see a rise in queries.
Aditya Gupta, senior VP of Yatra.com, observed a “hike in demand and queries for premium accommodation options, mostly 4 and 5 star properties across hotels and resorts. There has been a subsequent increase in hotel tariff with the average hotel price being ₹7,000-8,000.”
Travel is more flexible today than it ever was due to shifts in trends. For pocket travelers weekend trips often become compacted. For this, hostels have also witnessed a spike in their bookings almost at 100% in destinations like Goa, Udaipur and Coorg.
Experts said that more consumers are opting for experiential and unexplored travel destinations today. Even during the typically lean monsoon season, Indian travelers expressed high travel intent for intercity road trips for about 1-3 days.
“The yearning for travel still runs strong across the country,” said Godbole.
Source: Business Insider (https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/indian-consumers-are-packing-their-bags-to-travel-to-goa-and-bali/articleshow/93393370.cms)
