October 2 extended weekend sparks surge in flight searches and hotel bookings

In addition to the World Cup, the long weekends and festivals in October, such as Gandhi Jayanti and Durga Puja, are further contributing to the rise in travel, said Rikant Pittie, Co-founder, EaseMyTrip.

He added that after the Gandhi Jayanti long weekend, Durga Puja and Dussehra is another long weekend which is attracting more travel with twice as many flight searches for Kolkata this year. "Visitors are predominantly coming from cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Assam, and Orissa," he added.

Pittie said that the October 2 long weekend has seen increased travel from Delhi to popular destinations like Mumbai, Goa, Rajasthan, and Himachal. "Travel searches during Gandhi Jayanti have significantly increased for routes such as Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Himachal, Delhi-Goa, and Delhi-Rajasthan," he said.

Goa, Jaipur, Varanasi , Pune, Coorg, Dubai , Singapore and Maldives are some of the popular destination picks for the upcoming weekend, said Bajpai.

"We're witnessing a 15 percent boost in spiritual retreats like Tirupathi, Varanasi, Puri, Mathura, and more. There's a clear shift away from bustling cities towards the charm of smaller towns," said Sripad Vaidya, Co-founder, Confirmtkt, a travel ticket search engine.

Beach destinations are also in high traction among travellers. "Beach enthusiasts are flocking to Pondicherry, Goa, Kanyakumari, and Calicut post monsoon, with a surge in bookings approximately twice as high when compared to the previous month, said Rohit Sharma, COO, AbhiBus, an online bus booking service.

He added that with Himachal opened for tourism again, Shimla and Manali are experiencing a two-fold to three-fold increase in advance bookings compared to the previous month.

Hotels are also recording a surge in room bookings for the October 2 long weekend.

“For the upcoming long weekend, we have seen an uptrend in the demand for leisure and tourist destinations such as Goa, Jaipur, Bangalore, Chennai, Kerala, and Agra. These destinations have recorded average occupancy rates of 80 – 90 percent. This is an increase of 15 percent from last year. The RevPar (revenue per available room) during this holiday period has grown by 30 percent at leisure destinations, while city hotels display a stagnant demand, said Sudeep Jain, MD, SWA, IHG Hotels and Resorts.

He said that there is a significant surge in bookings as compared to FY23.

Pan-India premium hotel occupancy is expected to be at 70-72 percent in FY24, as compared to 68-70 percent in FY23, according to brokerage firm ICRA. It estimates premium hotel average room rates (ARRs) to be in the range of Rs 6,000-6,200 in FY24.

"The demand recovery has been strong in the last year, and we anticipate it to continue in FY24 as well. Sustenance of domestic leisure travel, higher bookings from meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE), and business travel, along with an increase in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs), would support demand," the brokerage firm said.