OYO witnesses 167% rise in bookings for long weekend

New Delhi: Travel tech firm OYO on Thursday said it has witnessed a 167 per cent rise in bookings made through its platform for the three-day long weekend starting with Good Friday as compared to last year.

There was a 57 per cent increase in booking demand for beach destinations and 43 per cent for hill stations, according to the company.  As per the booking trends, spiritual and pilgrimage destinations are witnessing high demand, indicating a shift towards prioritising spiritual experiences over luxury among Indian travellers.

Varanasi emerged as the top choice among pilgrimage destinations, followed by Puri, Shirdi, Amritsar, and Haridwar. Alongside these cities, Tirupati, Mathura, Vrindavan, Guruvayur, and Madurai also saw a significant surge in booking demand for the upcoming long weekend, OYO stated.

The region-wise breakdown showed that South India received maximum bookings followed by East, North and West regions.

Business destinations such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata also received increased traction for the long weekend starting on April 7.

An OYO spokesperson said travel in India has witnessed a renaissance of sorts in the last one year.

"We have continued to witness an increase in travel demand for long weekends over the last one year and the Good Friday long weekend this year is no exception. We are happy to see the shift in demand towards more spiritual and pilgrimage destinations, which have been a significant contributor to our growth," the spokesperson said.