“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘travel’ is happiness! Be it vacationing, travelling for work, meeting new people or simply capturing Instagrammable sunsets and moments; travelling truly liberates the soul. We at OYO Hotels & Homes know that taking a break from the routine and exploring new pastures is just what we all need to keep the magic going.

Last year, the Indian tourism and travel industry saw newer and unique trends shaping up with travellers exploring non-commercial locations and an increasing percentage of women exploring the country. Our booking data showed that between January – December  2019, we, at OYO witnessed a 63% increase in bookings made by women vis a vis same period in 2018.

The cities, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Mumbai emerged as the top 5 destinations booked by women travellers between January 2019 to February 2020. Interestingly, of the total bookings made by women travellers, 19.7% of them accounted for solo and 80.3% constituted more than 1 guest. We also observed that women preferred booking their accommodation via the OYO app as app bookings were 102 times more than desktop bookings. 

Talking about the surge in women travellers, Harshit Vyas, Chief Business Officer, OYO Hotels & Homes – India, said, “In the past few years, we have witnessed an increase in the number of women travellers in the country for both leisure as well as professional commitments. It is also interesting to see growth in bookings for Dehradun, Mysore and Lonavala showcasing the growing preference for exploring non-metro locations. At OYO, this is an opportunity for us to build offerings that cater to women travellers and their loved ones and offer them quality living spaces at affordable prices, at great locations and above all offer a world-class hospitality experience.”

Additionally, our statistics revealed that the capital city, Delhi, was the most popular during the festive season as it emerged at the most booked city during Diwali and Holi 2019 by women. Everybody’s favourite holiday destination, Goa topped the chart when it came to the most booked beach destination, however, Dehradun closely followed by Mysore and Lonavala being unique hill destinations that women travellers explored in 2019. 

We also released a fun digital film that highlights OYO as a preferred choice for millennials, in this case, a group of women who want to spend as much time as possible in each other’s company before one of them gets married. 

Here at OYO, every day is International Women’s Day – as more and more of you fierce and talented women continue to break the glass ceiling every single day, we will be honoured to host you at an OYO near you. Now that you’ve finished reading all the interesting insights, it’s time to start planning your next trip with us. Here’s to more of you travelling on your terms, and weaving your travel tales!