Goa, Manali, and Puducherry are among the most sought-after travel destinations during this Republic Day weekend, according to online travel booking aggregators like MakeMyTrip and OYO.
In fact, Goa has witnessed a 75 per cent increase in demand for the 26th of January compared to the same day last year, as per OYO’s analysis. This weekend, intercity bus travel is also in demand with redBus estimating 75 lakh people to undertake intercity bus travel in this period.
“Overall travel trends for the Republic Day long weekend indicate that the western region of the country is largely led by leisure driven travel, while south and eastern parts are witnessing the IT cohort taking a break to visit their hometowns and holiday spots and people up north are seeking adventure amid the snow-capped mountains,” redBus said in a media statement.
Meeting demand
In order to meet the spurt in demand for travel during the Republic Day long weekend, private bus operators across the country have added an additional 1,500 services across high demand routes.
Talking about the domestic flight bookings, Vipul Prakash, COO, MakeMyTrip said, “We expect the Republic Day weekend to emerge even stronger as compared with the new year weekend of Decemeber 22/ January 23. Goa, Kochi, and Srinagar are the most booked leisure destinations, while Patna, Guwahati, and Lucknow have emerged as the top tier 2/3 destinations. UAE, Thailand, and Singapore rule the charts on the international front.”
Commenting on these interesting holiday travel trends, Shreerang Godbole, Chief Service Officer & SVP — Product, OYO said, “We are very thrilled to witness an uptick in travel demand ahead of Republic Day. Even post the holiday seasons, Indians are showing keen interest in travelling every chance they get, especially by combining public holidays with leaves to make it a long weekend. Destinations close to metropolitan cities are preferred over long-haul destinations for such short getaways.”