As the capital city, New Delhi, prepares for a scheduled closure from September 8 to 10, a remarkable surge in travel bookings has been noted by tourism and hospitality stakeholders. Individuals and families are seizing the opportunity to unwind and seamlessly blend work and leisure during this short hiatus.
“We are witnessing an exciting trend where people are leveraging the Delhi shutdown as an opportunity to escape the routine and explore new environments without sacrificing their work commitments,” said Akash Dahiya, Co-Founder and CEO, SanKash – a travel fintech platform.
Domestic destinations across the country including Puducherry, Daman and Diu, Goa, Kerala and Sikkim are experiencing a high demand.
“The government’s official holiday announcement over the G20 meet days have triggered an increase in searches for cities within drivable distance from the city of Delhi. We have observed an increase in searches for accommodation bookings in destinations such as Sawai Madhopur, Manesar, Amritsar, Vrindavan, Agra, Udaipur, and Jaipur. We have also seen some traction for Rishikesh and Corbett National Park but largely speaking, the plains dominate the search for bookings over hills,” said Rajesh Magow, Co-founder & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip.
The recent spell of heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh did cause travel disruption in some parts of the state. However, with efforts of the state government to restore the infrastructure on a war footing, tourists from Delhi are now travelling to Chamba, Kangra, Shimla and other districts during the holiday period.