In Finland, they celebrate ‘Ystavanpaiva’ on 14th February, which translates to Friendship Day. Mexicans fondly call the day ‘Dia del amor y la amistad’, which means a day of love and friendship. In Japan, V-Day is all about chocolates, whereas the Danish express their love with snowdrops (white pressed flowers) instead of those clichéd roses!

Valentine’s Day traditions differ from culture to culture, but one thing we know for sure is that this special day is no longer limited to a somber exchange of gifts, heart emojis, roses and fancy dinners. The underlying thought, nonetheless, is to celebrate one another and express gratitude. 

This year, we are extremely humbled to share that we observed a record 90.57% increase in Valentine’s Day bookings across India, with families, friends, couples and also solo travellers opting to spend this long weekend with us! Be it short getaways or staycations, we saw it all this year! 

Our booking data reveals that OYO’s mobile app witnessed a 100% increase in consumer bookings from last year, while less than 10% of consumers preferred to book their stays through the website and other channels. Lucky for us all, this Valentine’s Day fell on a Friday! And one consumer planned it well ahead of time, with a booking that came in as early as 24th August 2019. 

Love is in the air!

While most urban cities saw a jump in bookings; Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata are our ‘Cities Of Love’ this year, with the highest number of bookings and app searches for 14th – 16th February. Without any surprise, these were also the cities with the maximum advance bookings!

Delhi continues to top Valentine’s Day weekend charts for the second year in a row! The southern cities of Hyderabad and Chennai followed suit. What’s more interesting? Across OYO’s international markets too, guests opted to stay in the capital cities, with Kuala Lumpur as the most booked city in Malaysia, Kathmandu in Nepal and Jakarta in Indonesia.

Across South India, Pondicherry, Chennai and Hyderabad emerged as the most sought-after destinations for Valentine’s Day celebrations whereas Goa, Pune and Mumbai were top locations preferred by guests across West India. With no surprise here, Kolkata was the most popular city in East India for 14th February bookings. 

The fun doesn’t end here! We also rolled out a very quirky social media campaign #CheckInForLove, a concept that took a desi approach to Valentine’s Day by riding on existing pop phrases and cult art styles. The campaign that went live on 7th February has resulted in a 284% increase in positive sentiment for OYO. 

Oh and lastly, since it’s Valentine’s Day afterall, we’d like to take this special opportunity to express our gratitude and commitment towards each and every guest who chose to spend this day with us. 

A BIG THANK YOU for all the love not just today but all year through!