Independence Day weekend sends Indians into a travel frenzy

This year, Independence Day on Thursday, followed by Raksha Bandhan on Monday, offers a perfect escape for travellers. “Our latest data reveals a robust demand for travel during the Independence Day long weekend, with a strong sentiment for domestic destinations," said Anuj Rathi, chief business and growth officer at online travel agency Cleartrip. 

Destinations like Puducherry, Udaipur and Munnar have witnessed a phenomenal surge in hotel bookings for the Independence Day weekend, with increases of 760%, 441% and 321%, respectively, compared to average bookings in the previous three weeks, data sourced from Cleartrip showed. 

Also Read: Travelling by air this weekend? Prepare to shell out more.

Other popular choices include Ooty, Goa, Jaipur and Lonavala, all recording substantial booking growth.

“Indians are travelling like never before, and our data indicates that they are maximizing every opportunity and converting them into mini-cations," said Rajeev Kale, president and country head, holidays and MICE, Visa at Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. “Domestic and closer-to-home destinations are seeing increased interest, not just from families or multigenerational families, but also from our young professionals or millennials and couples segments."

Flight bookings soar 

Airlines have witnessed a significant spike in flight bookings, even for international travel. Bookings for international gateways like Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Singapore and Bali spiked by 56.8%, 34.7%, 33.6% and 15.6%, respectively, compared to the previous four weeks, showed the Cleartrip data.

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On the other hand, Jaipur and Udaipur emerged as the most popular domestic destinations with bookings rising by 73% and 63%, respectively. 

 

Some easy-visa destinations were also on the travellers’ bucket list. “Short-haul and easy-visa destinations such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Dubai-Abu Dhabi, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Bhutan and Vietnam are topping our online searches," said Kale.

That said, flight fares on some sought-after routes took passengers on a wild ride because of the Independence Day rush. For instance, on 9 August, the lowest ticket price for the same-day Delhi-Goa flight was ₹6,160. It shot up to ₹9,147 for a 14 August flight and fell sharply again to ₹5,604 for a 23 August flight. Similarly, the lowest ticket price for a 9 August Bengaluru-Goa flight was ₹3,989, for a 14 August flight ₹5,705 and for a 23 August flight ₹3,898.

Will this revive domestic tourism?

Experts sound optimistic. “The notable rise in flight bookings to destinations like Jaipur, Udaipur, and Leh reflects a strong desire to travel, despite the marginal increase in airfares. The sustained interest in travel indicates a larger trend for exploration among Indian travellers," noted Rathi.

Besides, the country’s domestic travel industry is already making a strong comeback, almost reaching pre-covid levels. Domestic tourist arrivals, which plummeted to 610 million in the pandemic-hit year of 2020 after reaching 2.32 billion in 2019, have rebounded to 2.51 billion in 2023, showed government data.

Also Read: Luxury resorts increase rates up to 60% for long weekends in August

However, investor sentiment for tourism-related stocks remains patchy. Stocks belonging to the Nifty India Tourism Index saw mixed fortunes during the past week and month. While three stocks gained, 15 declined. Safari Industries India led with a 6.7% weekly and 12.1% monthly surge. Jubilant Foodworks followed with 5.2% and 9.8% gains, respectively. However, Lemon Tree Hotels recorded a 17.1% weekly and 21.7% monthly decline. EIH and Chalet Hotel were also hit, falling 2.2% and 3.8% during the week, and 12.1% and 6.2% over the month, respectively.

Good news for hospitality sector 

The surge in demand is expected to benefit the hospitality sector, especially the luxury segment, which is roaring back to life with occupancy rates and average room rates skyrocketing in the two years since the pandemic. “Most importantly, this reflects the lifestyle changes of the consumers who are not price-sensitive and are willing to upgrade for differentiated experiences," noted a Nirmal Bang report.

“Encouraging macros, coupled with sector tailwinds, we believe, should enable the hospitality industry to grow both in terms of occupancy and rates," it added.

The report also highlighted that branded hotel supply in the top eight cities grew at a compounded annual growth of a mere 2% between 2017-18 and 2022-23, and even future supply is expected to grow at nearly 4% compared to a demand of 8% over the next five years in these cities.

Shuja Asrar contributed to this story.