This month’s long weekend, starting with Holi, has resulted in a surge in travel bookings as Indians look for both domestic and international travel destinations to unwind.

Air ticket bookings, in particular, have seen a jump of 40-50 percent for the weekend when compared to the same period last year, according to data from online travel company, EaseMyTrip. This highlights the pent-up demand for travel, especially among young professionals after two about years of COVID-19 restrictions. The average age of individuals that are travelling over the long weekend is 25-40 years.

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“We have witnessed a 50 percent jump in air ticket bookings for this long weekend, which has been further supported by the easing of travel restrictions. The travel sentiment is strongly reviving as we are witnessing an increasing demand for offbeat and international destinations, which is an optimistic step towards complete travel normalcy,” said Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-Founder of EaseMyTrip.

“This momentum will continue further as we are expecting the pent-up travel demand to sustain for the whole year, which will contribute to the much-needed revival of the sector,” he added.

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Bookings for destinations like Goa, Kashmir, Himachal have seen a 40-50 percent increase, while international destinations like Dubai and Sri Lanka have also been popular destinations for those wanting to get out of the country for the weekend.

A surprising but intuitive change has been the growing preference for 5-star hotels, partly because of the short duration of the stay over the weekend but also because of higher sanitary expectations in hotels.

Nearly a third of all bookings made are flexible bookings or have cancellation policies or refund measures.

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(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)