Long Weekends Turn Indian Couch Potatoes Into Travellers

With a long weekend coming up, Indians have already packed their bags and ready to hit the road. According to Yatra.com, one of the leading travel booking sites, the website has recorded a whopping 200% rise in bookings for weekend getaways over last year.

“This year has seen a number of long weekends that has impacted travellers' behaviour. People are now looking to take frequent but shorter breaks rather than one long break in a year. These long weekend trips are not only rejuvenating but also light on pocket and range from anything between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 per person for domestic destinations and Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per person for international ones,” said Sharat Dhall, President-Yatra.com.

A survey done by Yatra has revealed that among domestic destinations in North, Jammu has seen a 65% rise in growth of flights week-on-week while hotel bookings have gone up by a substantial 212% every week. Jim Corbett, the perfect place to mingle with wildlife, has witnessed 230% increase in its hotel bookings. While traditional tourist places such as Jaipur and Shimla have recorded 250% and 241% rise in its hotel booking week on week.

Similarly, down south, Coorg in Karnataka has witnessed a mind-boggling 275% rise in the hotel bookings while flight bookings for Tirupati and Pondicherry has gone up by 98% and 125% respectively. The hotel booking for these two places have witnessed a growth of 226% and 298% respectively.

However, it is not just the Northern and Southern tourist destinations that are attracting travellers. Destinations such as Goa, Mahabaleswar and Shirdi in the West and Puri, Darjeeling, Kolkata and Gangtok in the East will also be flocked by travellers.

Among the Eastern heavens, the flight booking for Bhubaneshwar for Puri has gone up by 30% while for Bagdogra to reach Darjeeling and Gangtok has grown by 66%. Kolkata has recorded a 112% rise in its flight bookings. On the other hand, the hotel booking for Puri has witnessed a surge by 109%, Darjeeling by 220%, Kolkata and Gangtok by 185% and 224% respectively.

While on the Western side, casino haven Goa tops the list with 135% surge in flight bookings and 312% rise in the hotel bookings. This is followed by religious places such as Shirdi and Mahabaleshwar with 176% and 122% surge in the hotel bookings. The flight bookings for Shirdi have increased by 85%.

It isn’t just domestic destinations that are raking in the moolah. Foreign locales too have been thronged by Indians. The hotel bookings for Thailand have risen by 77% while Singapore has registered a growth of 69%. Similarly, Dubai has witnessed an increase by 82% in the hotel bookings while Malaysia has seen a 47% rise in the same.

Image: Indiatimes.com