Colleagues are announcing they are away with ‘do-not-disturb’ mails, friends are posting photos on Instagram of playing in the snow, families are heading out for early morning safaris and live-streaming their road trips. The travel bug is back ahead of Christmas and New Year’s Eve, as many head out of the city to hill resorts and sun-kissed beaches to recharge, disconnect from work and end a long, exhausting year on a high.
Many popular destinations, as well as some of the lesser known ones, have seen a rise in flight and hotel bookings for the holiday season. According to ITC Hotels COO Anil Chadha, Manesar, Agra, Jaipur and Mussoorie are among the chain’s best performing properties that are witnessing high footfalls. Sudeep Jain, MD, southwest Asia, IHG, also says more enquiries are coming in and there is an increase in reservations at their hotels in Goa, Chennai, Agra and Jaipur.
The roads less travelled in 2020 are filling up again. Hotel rooms are taken, New Year packages are selling out. The long-missing holiday mood is back as people prepare to bury this forgettable year. Don’t leave your New Year reservations for the last moment, says Ankush Nijhawan, MD of Nijhawan Group and CEO of Travel Boutique Online. The weekend crowds are back in Alibaug, Lonavala, Coorg, Mussoorie, Rishikesh, Shimla, Jaipur all at drivable distances from major cities. Daniel D’souza, president and country head, leisure, SOTC Travel, sees the pent-up demand stretching well into 2021.
There has been a significant increase in bookings for the next few months, he says. Kapil Chopra, CEO of The Postcard hotels says his hotels are fully booked for the next few weeks. A survey by travel portal Goibibo shows 35% of the respondents intend to travel before the year is out. Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO of MakeMyTrip Limited that includes MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and red-Bus, sa