A Jayanagar-based travel company has switched from tempo travellers to mini buses to meet the high demand for trips within Karnataka this long weekend.
Credit: MuddieTrails
With the Labour Day holiday falling on a Thursday (May 1), Bengalureans are turning the mid-week break into a long weekend by taking Friday off from work. Some are heading out on treks and road trips across Karnataka, while others are flying to destinations in other states or even abroad.
Harshitha Karunakar is off on a four-day vacation to Sri Lanka starting Thursday. She admits their schedule is “a bit packed for an international trip”, but the timing worked well for her family — her mother, a schoolteacher, is on summer break, and her retired father is free to join. “I applied for leave a month ago,” said the content writer. Their itinerary includes Buddhist temples, colonial landmarks, beaches, and sites linked to the ‘Ramayana’.
Former communications professional Brian Ammanna and his friends
are limiting their road trip to three days. They are returning Saturday to avoid Sunday traffic. They will explore eateries in Mysuru before heading to Kodagu to unwind. Since most stays in Kodagu were expensive due to the long weekend rush, they booked one near Madikere, half an hour away.
Product manager Bharat Vijay and his mother Uma Devi, a field engineer assistant, are using the flexibility of remote work to start their trip on Wednesday. They will backpack through Kodagu, trekking up the
Tadiandamol peak, and visiting monasteries and coffee estates.
Advocate Shamanth Surendra has settled for a day trip. Along with his biker friends and cousins, he plans to ride up to the Mallappa Konda hill — on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu-Andhra border — and the Bolumalai Fort in Tamil Nadu.
But some like IT professional Preeti K had to drop her family travel plans. She said most “decent hotels and resorts” in places like Kodagu, Kotagiri and Wayanad are either sold out or charging twice or more due to the long weekend demand.
‘Enquiries up by 2.5 times’
Travel and hospitality companies have shifted itineraries to accommodate the holiday rush. Muddie Trails, Jayanagar, saw enquiries more than double and responded by increasing their group trips to Ooty, Kodaikanal, and Munnar from one to three each. “One trip will start Thursday night,” said operations manager Shirky Sreemath.
Plan The Unplanned, Hulimavu, has scheduled two treks for May 1 — to Makali Durga and Kaiwara, both within 80 km of Bengaluru. As of Tuesday, each had 8-10 enquiries, mostly from 21-to-35-year-olds, but no confirmed bookings. “Long weekend plans are usually last-minute, so we are hopeful the slots will be filled by Wednesday,” said founder Jatin Munvar.
Chazing Sunsets, Chickpet, had sold 11 of 15 slots for a four-day jungle trail by Monday. “Mostly families with young children are booking. It becomes a short summer vacation for them,” said founder Rohit Kumar.
Nomadic’s hostel in Kodagu, which can accommodate 16 visitors, is fully booked. “Some guests have even opted to sleep on extra mattresses. We have had to decline more requests,” said founder Sandeep T K. And their D D Hills campsite in Tumakuru, which holds twice as many, has only a few tents left. “All these bookings are from Bengaluru,” he added.
Those seeking a long vacation had factored in the May 1 break well in advance. Sreemath’s company, for instance, had secured 50-60% of its bookings to Arunachal Pradesh as early as January, anticipating the holiday. Of these, 70% of travellers are from Bengaluru. “Booking early helps avoid expensive flights,” he explained.