How Are Indians Traveling This Independence Day? - India Report

06.08.2024 - 10:05 / skift.com / Aloke Bajpai / Bulbul Dhawan

With Independence Day and Raksha Bandhan just a few days apart with a weekend in between, Indian travelers are looking to use this opportunity to vacation. Online travel agency Agoda has witnessed an increase of over 260% in travel searches from Indians compared to the same period last year. 

A report by online travel agency MakeMyTrip earlier this year showed that last year, the number of Indians taking more than three trips a year increased by 25% as compared to 2019. It also said that in the domestic hotels category, weekend getaways have seen the highest growth. 

We spoke to some travel industry players to understand how Indians are traveling for this 5-day vacation:

According to Cleartrip, bookings are reflecting a strong desire among travelers. Popular domestic destinations like Goa, Udaipur, Pondicherry, and Munnar top the list based on hotel reservations, with Goa, Ladakh, and Kashmir being the favorite picks for air travel, it said.

Cleartrip data shows that international getaways are also in high demand, with Malaysia, Singapore, Bali, and Thailand attracting significant interest despite the higher average airfares, such as INR 18,500 ($220) for Bali and INR 9,200 ($110) for Singapore.

So far, over 15,000 air bookings have been made for the long weekend, marking a 37% increase compared to a typical weekend, the OTA said. 

Aloke Bajpai, chairman, managing director and group CEO, Ixigo: “We have observed a 40-50% year-over-year increase in flight bookings for travel between August 14-20,” said Bajpai.

Domestic destinations like Dehradun, Mumbai, and Goa have seen an average of 40-45% year-on-year growth in bookings and searches, while average fares for the upcoming weekend are trending 25-30% higher.

There is also a surge in spiritual travel, with Varanasi and Amritsar seeing and 84% and 81% increase in flight bookings, respectively.

“International travel is rising, driven by visa-free entries and affordable fares. Popular spots like Bali, Thailand, Kuwait, and Singapore have seen a 60-70% increase in bookings, while new trending short-haul destinations like Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Vietnam are emerging as favored picks among Indian travelers,” he added.

Devendra Parulekar, founder of SaffronStays: Private vacation homes managed by SaffronStays are witnessing the booking rush for properties in Maharashtra as people are keen to escape the heat and enjoy the cool, refreshing climate these locations offer. The easy accessibility of destinations like Lonavala, Alibaug, and Karjat are expected to witness maximum bookings, according to homestay aggregator SaffronStays. 

“Compared to last year, we are expecting a 25% increase in bookings during the Independence Day weekend. The current trend