Long Dussehra weekend: Airfare discounts turn most into explorers

MUMBAI: Massive discounts on air fare, owing to the ongoing festive season, clubbed with the long Dusshera weekend have bumped up ticket sales.

“People travel most during festivals. With air travel getting cheaper, a large number of travellers are exploring destinations beyond the usual weekend drive,” said Karan Anand, relationships head, Cox & Kings.

Balu Ramachandran, head of Air and Distribution, Cleartrip, said, “Bookings across cities demonstrate vibrancy expected during Navratri. Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Hyderabad have seen the highest growth of bookings [between 12% to 14%] while Kolkata remains the number one destination in terms of absolute bookings.”

Sharat Dhall, COO (Business to Consumer ), Yatra, said passenger load on flights to Kolkata, Jammu, Varanasi and Amritsar has increased.

“With the growing trend of taking short and frequent breaks, we have also seen an increase in bookings to beach and hill destinations for the long weekend around Dussehra. We expect a last minute surge of fares during this time,” he added.

Thomas Cook India said its data revealed that domestic tourism has grown exponentially and has witnessed a growth of more than 35%.

Daniel D’souza, sales head, India, SOTC Travel, said the concept of booking months in advance has become unfeasible for the Indian traveller.

Most travel bookings are made last-minute, usually twothree weeks in advance, owing to hectic work schedules.

“The long Dussehra weekend has resulted in an uptake in demand for domestic holidays as well as international short haul destinations,” he added.

Manmeet Ahluwalia, marketing head, Brand Expedia in India said that bookings for the coming long weekend has grown compared to the same period last year.

“We have noted 40% to 42% surge in bookings for destinations like Kolkata, Mysore, Ahmedabad, Rajasthan, Delhi and Goa. We have also seen an increase in inbound travel as people travel back home while few enthusiastic foreigners want to experience Indian culture at the peak of festive season,” he added.