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OYO’s booking trends for the long weekend, between 02nd and 04th October, clearly reflects India’s travel aspirations and confidence to hit the roads once again. OYO Hotels & Homes, the world’s leading hospitality chain saw a whopping 72% surge in bookings for leisure destinations between 02nd October and 04th October. Over the weekend, nearly 1.8 – 2 lakh guests spent their long weekend at OYOs across India.
OYO’s booking trends reveal that Jaipur, Goa, and Kochi topped as India’s most popular leisure destinations among travellers this long weekend. Interestingly, most of this demand came from Delhi, making it the city with the highest aspirations to travel again. Through OYO’s consumer survey, safety emerged as the consumer’s top priority, further to which 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, OYO has observed that Delhiites took inter-state road trips to tourist hotspots, with Jaipur and Agra topping charts. Majority 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, Jaipur and Vishakhapatnam, most demand stemmed from Bhubaneshwar and Vijaywada respectively.
To ensure their health and safety, during their stay over the long weekend, OYO’s consumer survey shows that majority of travellers are looking for value for money and cleanliness while booking their accommodation. According to OYO’s consumer use cases, respondents said ubiquity, ease of booking, sanitised stays, affordable and flexible bookings, reliable and predictable experience are the top reasons customers chose to stay at OYOs during the long weekend.
Commenting on the boost in bookings and comeback of leisure travel, Rohit Kapoor, CEO, India & South Asia, OYO said, “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 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.
