Karnataka saw a 58 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth among all southern states for Ganesh Chaturthi bus bookings. According to redBus data, this growth was primarily driven by inter-State bookings (62 per cent), particularly on routes connecting to Andhra Pradesh-Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The remaining bookings were for destinations within the state.
Four out of the top 10 busiest routes are to Tamil Nadu, including Bengaluru to Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Pondicherry (UT). Additionally, four other top routes are to the Andhra Pradesh-Telangana region, including Bengaluru to Tirupati, Nellore, Kadapa, and Hyderabad.
“This festive season, we are witnessing a notable surge in travel bookings across India, particularly in the southern States. Karnataka stands out with high inter-State travel to neighbouring States. The overlap of Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi adds up to very high demand for bus travel this year,” said Manoj Agarwala, Chief Business Officer (CBO), redBus.
Interesting trends in Karnataka
Leading this trend are passengers aged 21-30, who form a large cohort of travelers. Specifically, 48 per cent of male passengers and 61 per cent of female passengers belonged to this age group.
The increase in bookings was extended to intra-State travel as well, with approximately 30 per cent of intra-State travel focused on the three coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, and Uttara Kannada. The top five coastal routes from Bengaluru were to Mangaluru, Udupi, Karwar, Kundapur, and Kumta.
Other major trends
The Southern States saw a hike in bus bookings by 50 per cent induced by demand for Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam. Kerala saw a 76 per cent y-o-y increase in bus bookings due to Onam. Tamil Nadu experienced a 44 per cent rise, while Andhra Pradesh and Telangana recorded 50 per cent increase as compared to 2023 in bus bookings due to Ganesh Chaturthi.
Delhi saw the highest jump in predicted bookings y-o-y on redBus platform at 83 per cent.
The booking conversion rates for Pune, Mumbai, and Nagpur have increased by 10 per cent compared to the last long weekend during Independence Day-Raksha Bandhan, noted, Rohit Sharma, COO, AbhiBus.
He further added, “We continue to see strong demand from Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai.”