Domestic tourism bounces back to pre-Covid times, hotels bookings spike 100%

New Delhi: A demand for domestic air travel and hotel bookings which has increased more than pre-Covid times has given a great sense of relief to the domestic tourism sector as the demand for these services has now crossed the pre-pandemic-period.
On December 26, around 4,23,000 domestic passengers travelled in the country that breached the pre-Covid high of 4,20,000. On December 24, the number of domestic travellers who took to flight was 4,35,500. Experts in the tourism industry said that the surge in domestic travel had been witnessed because of various restrictions and procedures on international travel as many countries are still coping with Covid.
Vipul Prakash, Chief Operating Officer, MakeMyTrip, said, "Domestic leisure traffic has recovered more than 100 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and remains strong. We are observing solid trends for the upcoming new year-end weekend. Goa, Jaipur, Shimla, Udaipur, and Manali lead the pack of the most booked destinations on the platform. We have also observed a robust uptick for Wayanad, Mysore, Ooty, Coorg, Gangtok, Dehradun, Agra, Dharamshala, and Darjeeling. Further, people are opting for longer duration stays in premium properties, indicating a higher propensity to spend as they seek luxury-led experiences."
He added that on the international front, the best-selling packages for the new year celebrations include Spectacular Krabi and Phuket Getaway, the Best of Pattaya and Bangkok, Mesmerizing Dubai Vacation, Amsterdam Swiss Paris Budget Special Group, and Wonderful Paradise Resort (Maldives) Holiday.
When the lockdown was announced, the tourism sector was immediately affected, resulting in the shutdown of hotels due to losses. But the sector has restored itself and again gained the momentum as of pre-Covid times, said the experts.
Aloke Bajpai, Group Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of IXIGO said, "Travel is back with a vengeance, boosted by resilient demand. We saw travellers' confidence improve significantly this year as compared to last year. The industry has bounced back phenomenally well. Travel sentiment is at an all-time high and we can see that with the MoM (month-on month) raising domestic air passenger traffic which crossed the four-lakh mark towards the end of November."
He added, "We can expect higher air traffic in peak travel months of December and January. Trains and buses continue to show steady growth. International passenger traffic is also steadily increasing and currently touching over 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels."
"Trending leisure domestic destinations this year were places like Kashmir, Goa, Udaipur, Andaman and Nicobar. Kashmir saw a record-breaking 23-lakh tourists in 2022 and was one of the most popular picks for summer travel this year. Popular international destination picks for year-end travel are Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and Dubai," Bajpai said.
Travellers are preferring new destinations like Vietnam, Cambodia because of hassle-free travel with fewer restrictions. It is the best year in terms of business in post-Covid times, the experts said.
Rajeev Kale, President and Country Head for Holidays, Thomas Cook India, said, "A combination of unspent leave, pent-up demand and positive sentiment is fuelling our domestic demand this season -- surpassing pre-pandemic demand by over 110 per cent.
He said, "In addition to favourites like Goa, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Kerala, and Andamans, we are seeing noteworthy interest for the Northeast region, also wildlife safari trips and outdoor or adventure with camping-hiking-biking getaways seeing a significant surge of 2.5x versus last quarter."
Indians are also opting for spiritual tourism in gratitude for the year gone by and for seeking blessings for the one ahead -- resulting in an uptick for Varanasi (Kashi-Vishwanath), Prayagraj, Puri, Vaishnodevi and Tirupati.
Closer to home and easy Visa destinations such as Dubai-Abu Dhabi, Oman, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand; also newer options like Vietnam-Cambodia; island locations of Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka are fuelling our outbound demand, he added.
"Besides the family segment, we are witnessing strong demand from couples-honeymooners and India's young professionals or millennials -- resulting in a drop of average consumer age by approx. 10 years," he said. (ANI)