Following the success of the last festive weekend, we have now crossed over 8 lakh bookings this week, a record high for 2022. At its peak, over 950 of our storefronts (hotels & homes) were sold out with 100% occupancy on Saturday, 16th April. We attribute the success of this milestone to our app that provides increased flexibility to today’s travellers with features like ‘Pay at Hotel’. Additionally, on average, 20% of the bookings were made by OYO’s Wizard members.
As consumer behavior continues to evolve, we have been rolling out several features offering flexibility to travellers. This combined with the waning out of pandemic-related barriers to travel has led to significant rise in travel bookings amid the summer season. Relaxation of restrictions, high vaccination rates across the country, rise in air travel, beginning of school holidays, and pent up travel demand are key external factors that contributed to this travel resurgence.
Our OYO App is built to provide convenience and flexibility to travellers. It is the third most downloaded travel app, globally. Overall, during the long weekend itself, a majority of the bookings for patron hotels and homes came from our direct channels, mainly the OYO App, website and corporate bookings.
Manali, Hardiwar, Amritsar, Goa and Mysore were the most sought-after leisure destinations this weekend. In fact, a majority of cities witnessed over 200% growth, showcasing the pent up travel demand across India. This demand was led by travellers based in Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Kolkata. This demand pattern indicates high travel aspirations and intent among urban travellers, and their interest in exploring nearby tourist hotspots. Industry experts expect the demand for summer travel to rise by an average of 60% in the coming days. Celebrated across different parts of the country, the festive fervour around Vishu, Baisakhi and Easter between 14th – 17th April further contributed to this growth. This trend reveals that people are keen to travel every chance they get.
Leisure destination growth over the long weekend from 14th – 17th April 2022
Manali (537%)
Haridwar (414%)
Amritsar (229%)
Meerut (174%)
Goa (171%)
Mysore (168%)
Ranchi (159%)
Dehradun (155%)
Nashik (154%)
Jalandhar (152%)
Commenting on the steady bounce back in travel, Shreerang Godbole, SVP – Product & Chief Service Officer – OYO said, “OYO continues to see a surge in weekend travel demand two weeks in a row. Last weekend, we saw over 3 lakh bookings and this week, we’ve crossed the 8 lakh bookings mark. This is exciting news for the travel and hospitality sector. It indicates that India is set to witness travel resurgence over the next few weeks of the summer season. Over the years, we focused our innovations to build a consumer friendly app and become the preferred platform among evolved travellers. ‘Pay At Hotel’, Nearby Stays, and our easy cancellation policies give consumers the flexibility to make last minute travel decisions even during peak weekends.”
“Our data also indicates an expected rise in bookings across leisure destinations such as Gangtok, Srinagar, Coorg, McLeodganj, Nainital, Rishikesh, Darjeeling, Manali and Shillong. We’re thrilled about the bounce back and continue to work towards offering quality and flexible experiences to our consumers as they head out.” he added.