Festival boost helps travel and tourism firms beat pandemic blues 

Already buoyed by festive season demand for air, rail and hotel bookings, the travel and tourism industry is now gearing up to meet wedding season travel needs, according to a newspaper report.

A slew of factors such as lifting of capacity cap in domestic airlines and easing of Covid-19 curbs, increased pace of vaccination and pent-up demand have helped the industry to bounce, reported the Times of India, quoting industry insiders.

Certain segments in a few platforms even bettered the pre-pandemic years as international travellers are taking multiple short leisure domestic trips, said the report.

Travel demand

Rajeev Kale, president & country head of holidays, MICE, Visa- Thomas Cook India, is quoted as saying in the report that there was surge in holiday demand, driven by growing confidence in travel, positive sentiment. He further said that with many international borders remaining closed, India has been in spotlight like never before. He noted that pre-pandemic 12-month levels have already been crossed in 9 months.

Daniel D’souza, the president and country head of SOTC Travel, told the Times of India that domestic airlines operating 100% capacity filled the demand-supply gap. Domestic demand was over three times in September 2021 compared to the same period last year, he added.

EaseMyTrip, Prashant Pitti is quoted as saying more people are looking to travel. EaseMyTrip saw 60% jump in domestic flight bookings in the long weekends, such as during Ganesh Chaturthi, Dushera and Diwali, he said, adding that the year-end, in particular, has seen a jump of 450% in advanced bookings compared to 2020 and 2019.

The news report quoting travel aggregators said travellers are in the “revenge travel” mode. Bored of work from home norms and the long lockdowns, people are taking to travel with a vengeance.

Hotel bookings

Gurgaon-based The Unhotel Company co-founder Shilpi Singh is quoted as saying that hotel and property booking seeing a surge. People are travelling to offbeat places. If Covid-19 situation doesn’t flare up, booking will only increase, she added.

Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Ooty, Rajasthan, and Gangtok seem to be favourite destinations for for weekend getaways or week-long stays in destinations.

Bookings at villas are significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels,” Vipul Prakash, the COO of MakeMyTrip, told the Times of India.

Group or family travel compared to leisure travel has seen a rise, he said, adding that for longer stays or workstations in homestays, destinations in the north and west India continue to remain a favourite. A majority of the bookings are for homestays in Goa, Lonavala, Alibaug, and Mahabaleshwar in the west, and Nainital, Mussoorie, Shimla, and Manali in the north, he said.