Bengaluru 

SoftBank-backed travel technology platform, OYO, has revealed that the company received over 310,000 bookings for the last festive weekend (Navratri, Durga Puja and Ashtami). This is the biggest booking for the company so far in 2022, surpassing weekend bookings for peak travel days such as Republic Day, Holi, and Valentine’s Day. In fact, this weekend also overtook overall gross bookings for New Year’s weekend, usually the highest booked weekend for the travel industry.

OYO also observed a 134 per cent jump in weekend vs weekday bookings during the festive weekend in 2022 vs 111 per cent in 2019, indicating that more travellers are stepping out during the weekends. This travel boost can be attributed to the pent up demand for travel and increased vaccination rates.

“Travel optimism is at an all-time high across the country,” said Shreerang Godbole, SVP – product and chief service officer – OYO. “As restrictions are eased and air travel bans lifted, travellers are looking forward to celebrating festivals with their loved ones, heading out on summer vacations and making the most of their long weekends. This surge during the festive weekend is a testament to the travel boom that’s ahead of us in 2022.”

OYO’s booking data between 8-10 April, 2022, reveals that leisure destinations like Srinagar, Manali, Shirdi, Prayagraj, Chandigarh, Gwalior, and Ludhiana saw the highest growth over the last weekend.

Additionally, over 200 OYO hotels witnessed 100 per cent occupancy.

Godbole said over 300,000 travellers opted to stay at OYOs across India. The firm is expecting the upcoming Good Friday/Baisakhi long weekend to be the highest ever since the pandemic in 2020. Overall, this summer is set to be the season of pre-pandemic travel recovery.