Dehradun, Goa, Puducherry & temple towns emerge favourites this long weekend

Bengaluru: The long weekend between August 14 to 20 saw a marked travel uptick, reflected in the data across travel agencies. Dehradun, Goa, and Puducherry (erstwhile Pondicherry) emerged as some of the top domestic destinations. The weekend also witnessed its fair share of pilgrims headed to temple towns. 

"This long weekend in August (Independence Day, Rakhi and Janmashtami), train bookings have seen over 70% YoY increase for travel,” said Dinesh Kumar Kotha, CEO, ixigo Trains and ConfirmTkt. 

ixigo observed a 40-50 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in flight bookings for travel between these dates, while Cleartrip saw a 37% increase compared to a typical weekend with 15,000 air bookings. AbhiBus reported a 54% YoY increase in bookings and Skyscanner saw a 72% increase in bookings (redirects) for travel on August 14 compared to the previous day.

Dehradun witnessed a 69 per cent YoY increase in flight bookings via ixigo and a 184% YoY surge via AbhiBus. Puducherry saw a 256 per cent YoY rise in AbhiBus bookings and also was amongst the top of redBus’s and ConfirmTkt’s lists. Goa too was in high demand for redBus, ConfirmTkt, as well as Cleartrip’s lists on both hotel reservations and air travel.

Fares were also higher, driven by demand. ixigo showed an average rise by 25-30%.

The travel agencies also noted a beeline for religious hotspots. For example, ixigo’s data revealed that Varanasi and Amritsar saw an 84% and 81% YoY increase in flight bookings, respectively. AbhiBus saw a 17% YoY increase for Tirupati, which also featured high on redBus’s list along with Madurai. ConfirmTkt showed Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Haridwar as some of the top spiritual and leisure destinations. It along with ixigo Trains showed an average 77% increase in train bookings for such destinations. 

Some international travel too is happening this weekend. “International travel is rising, driven by visa-free entries and affordable fares,” said Aloke Bajpai, Chairman, Managing Director and Group CEO, ixigo. Indonesia’s Bali, Thailand, Kuwait, and Singapore saw a 60-70% YoY increase in bookings, he informed.

As per Cleartrip data, Malaysia, Singapore, Bali, and Thailand attracted significant interest despite the higher average airfares, such as Rs 18,500 for Bali and Rs 9,200 for Singapore.