Months of lockdown meant putting an absolute hard stop on summer travel plans but on the brighter side, we know that most of you spent days on end planning your next vacation. So, here’s a happy toast to all the time you spent scrolling through travel pages on social media and daydreaming about a relaxing and fun holiday. Now, with state borders opening up and relaxation of restrictions across the country, we’re nearing an end to all those dreary lockdown blues. The Gandhi Jayanti long weekend was the perfect excuse for travellers like you to get back into action, turn up your engines, and drive away. And of course, we’re sure all you carried tons of sanitisers, masks, and gloves!

Here’s a quick sneak-peak on how India travelled this long weekend!

Through our conversations with consumers, we realised that 57% planned their next trip for leisure, while 61% had already decided the destination for their coming vacation. Our booking trends for the long weekend, between 02nd and 04th October clearly reflects the country’s travel aspirations and confidence to hit the roads once again. We’re happy to share that over the long weekend, we saw a whopping 72% surge in bookings for leisure destinations, with nearly 1.8 – 2 lakh guests spending their long weekend at OYOs across India.

Furthermore, Jaipur, Goa, and Kochi topped as India’s most popular leisure destinations among travellers this long weekend, with most of this demand coming from the Capital City of Delhi. Through our consumer surveys, we also realised that safety is the consumer’s top priority, as 56% would opt to travel via a private vehicle to nearby locations with their family or friends. The survey also highlights that travellers are most likely to plan their vacations between 1 – 3 days. 

Very close to the survey findings, we also observed that Delhiites took inter-state road trips to tourist hotspots, with Jaipur and Agra topping charts. The majority of travellers from Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai preferred to spend their long weekend along the exotic and relaxing beaches of Goa. Down South, Kochi was the most popular leisure destination, with most people coming into the city from Bangalore, Kozhikode, and Thiruvananthapuram. As for leisure destinations like Lucknow and Vishakhapatnam, most demand stemmed from Bhubaneshwar and Vijaywada respectively. 

Here are the top leisure destinations across India and the four zones across the country:

While wanderlust is in the air, people are also playing it safe. Our consumer survey shows that majority of travellers are looking for value for money and cleanliness while booking their accommodation. Standing true to this insight, a whopping 91% of guests chose to stay at our hotels and homes with the ‘Sanitised Stays’ safety tag. According to our use cases, respondents said ubiquity, ease of booking, sanitised stays, affordable and flexible bookings, reliable and predictable experience are the top reasons why customers chose to stay with us during the long weekend.

Being an avid traveller himself, Rohit Kapoor, CEO, India & South Asia, OYO shares his thoughts on the comeback of leisure travel, “Travel is coming back, faster than we expected. All around the world, people are now looking forward to travelling and especially, exploring exciting local hidden gems. With safety being the traveller’s first priority, air travel has taken a backseat for more private and safer options like in-city staycations and roadtrips to nearby domestic vacation spots. We’re extremely happy to share that we saw a 72% surge in bookings this long weekend. These green shoots for leisure travel are a positive sign of rising consumer confidence. It shows that people are ready to move beyond the challenges brought about by the pandemic and embrace solutions to resume life in the new normal, with precautions and by diligently following the necessary government guidelines.”

He adds, “At OYO, we are listening to our consumers, ensuring that we address their concerns, their worries and their requirements to make travel decisions simpler, more convenient. To do so, our senior leaders personally spoke with 2000+ consumers and through these conversations, we understood that leisure travel will eventually come back soon, and therefore, we strengthened our preparedness to welcome guests safely with Sanitsied Stays. We also introduced Travel Assistance on our app to help with COVID-19 testing and state-wise guidelines, and thereby, becoming a part of our guests’ journey right from the very beginning.”

While there’s a surge in demand for leisure travel across the country, consumers are increasingly looking for trusted clean & sanitised stays, with 80% users searching for sanitised stays, while 46% users seeking regulation related information while planning their next travel. Keeping this in mind, recently, we launched a one-stop solution for all travel-related assistance on the OYO app in India, including COVID-19 testing with leading ICMR approved pathology labs, visibility to state-wise guidelines, among others. This includes partnerships with Dr. Lal Path Labs, SRL Diagnostics, 1mg, and Indus Health Plus.