Pilgrimage emerges as key focus in OYO bookings in 2024; Puri, Varanasi, Haridwar top spiritual destinations

Hyderabad emerged as the most-booked city in 2024, overtaking other major cities, owing to its growing reputation as a tech and business hub.

Bengaluru: Puri, Varanasi and Haridwar turned out to be the pilgrimage hotspots, with spiritual tourism continuing to reign in 2024, as booking data of hospitality technology company OYO released on Tuesday showed.

Deoghar, Palani, and Govardhan also saw substantial growth in this segment.

Hyderabad emerged as the most-booked city in 2024, overtaking other major cities. This is attributed to its growing reputation as a tech and business hub. This also explains it topping destinations for business travels.

Bengaluru, Delhi, and Kolkata followed in terms of overall bookings. Bengaluru and Delhi were also high in choice for business travels.

As a state, Uttar Pradesh was the most favoured travel destination, while Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka yielded a high volume of bookings.

Smaller towns like Patna, Rajahmundry, and Hubli showed significant growth, with bookings increasing by 48 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

Leisure travellers queued up for Jaipur the most, followed by Goa, Pondicherry, and Mysuru. Mumbai, on the other hand, saw a drop in bookings, with travelers preferring nearby locations for leisure.

The year saw a rise in longer stays and also a growing preference for smaller towns and less-explored areas.

May registered the highest number of bookings, while October came second propped up by business travels in the end-of-year quarter. The long weekend between June 14 and 16, coinciding with Eid ul-Adha emerged as the most popular travel window.

In the United States, Texas remained the top state for bookings, with California, Florida, and Louisiana also among the top contributors.

In Europe, destinations such as Salzburg and Tyrol (Austria), West Flanders (Belgium), and Liège (Belgium) emerged as top vacation spots.

The United Kingdom experienced an uptick in bookings by 18 per cent YoY in 2024. London, Plymouth, and Sheffield stood out as the most-booked cities.

In Indonesia, Jakarta dominated the travel scene, followed by Bali and Medan. Indonesia saw a significant surge in bookings by 52 per cent compared to the previous year.