Demand Surges for Festive Season Travel - India Report

11.09.2024 - 10:22 / skift.com / Thomas Cook / Santosh Kumar / Bulbul Dhawan

Amid reports of increasing demand for travel for the upcoming festive season, Skift reached out to travel services companies to understand the trends in festive season travel.

“In anticipation of the upcoming Eid-e-Milad extended weekend on September 15 and 16, we have observed an increase in searches across domestic and international destinations,” Santosh Kumar, Country Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com, told Skift. 

He added that according to Booking.com’s data, Popular hill stations such as Lonavala, Ooty and Kodaikanal are observing an uptick between 20-50% in searches as compared to the same period last year. Mussoorie in particular is experiencing a 120% year-on-year growth in searches. “Furthermore, Indian travelers are capitalizing on this extended break to explore spiritual destinations like Varanasi, Rishikesh, and Puri,” he added. 

According to Booking.com accommodation search data, international destinations like London, Dubai, Singapore, Paris, and Baku remain top choices for Indian travelers seeking extended weekend getaways, he said. 

Indiver Rastogi, President & Group Head, Global Business Travel, Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel, said that the festive season for Dusshera holidays, between October 12 and 18, and Diwali, between October 30 and November 5, are already seeing significant demand. “Value-conscious Indians are booking 60-90 days in advance to avail lower pricing and special discounts announced by both airlines and hotels. Fares are currently lower than the peak summer pricing and this has given momentum to demand for the upcoming festive season,” he said. 

Airfares to Bagdogra, Andamans, Jaipur, Udaipur, and Goa have seen a dip, according to Thomas Cook. “We have seen a mere 5-8% increase in airfares from key metros to destinations like Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh,  Kochi, Madurai/Coimbatore (Ooty), Mysore/Mangalore (Coorg) when booked 60-90 days prior to departure. The demand-supply effect is understandably pushing fares north closer to departure and for last-minute bookers, our expectation is a growth of approximately 15-25%,” Rastogi added. 

Thomas Cook has also launched festive tours for Durga Puja, Dusshera, and Diwali in view of the increasing demand. It noted that Indians are now opting for longer stays during festival vacations: the stays have increased from three days earlier to 6-15 days now. “The appetite to spend has increased by 10-15% YoY,” the company said.

Keeping Airfares in Check: Meanwhile, the Indian civil aviation ministry is monitoring airfares daily as the festive season approaches, said civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu. The minister said that the government has been in contact with airport operators,