Demand for bus services to leisure destinations such as Goa, Ooty, Manali and Vizag is back to pre-COVID levels since August this year. With the monsoon receding and the festival season commencing, the industry expects a full recovery in business some time in this financial year.

Rohit Sharma, COO of AbhiBus (an ixigo Group Company), said, “Tourist destinations such as Tirupati, Goa, and Manali have shown more than 100 percent growth in bus travel searches compared to the same time last year.”

Popular destinations such as Manali typically see peak travel in December and January. “So, we can expect a further surge in bus travel demand for these routes in the next two-three months,” he added. Pilgrimage travel demand to destinations such as Tirupati, Shirdi, and Vaishno Devi is expected to grow further this winter.

The industry expects a CAGR of over 20 percent in tourist or leisure destinations. Prashant Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of Zingbus Technology, said, “During monsoons, there is a lull in business. But post that, it picks up.”

Kumar added that some locations which are not so popular among travellers have gained prominence in recent times due to bus connectivity.

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For budgeted tourists/ travellers, buses and trains continue to appeal, Kumar said. Meanwhile, Sharma said that the recent hike in airfares, which saw them rise 30 to 40 percent on some routes to due to rising oil prices has driven customers towards opting for trains and buses, which have shown phenomenal growth during the last two years.

Meanwhile, for redBus, the top tourist destinations are Goa, Pondicherry, Manali, Udaipur, Ooty, Siliguri, Dehradun, Rishikesh, Munnar, Lonavala, Hampi and Shimla. According to the company spokesperson, to address the increased demand for leisure/tourist destinations, it has added additional inventory for these routes.

Gearing for growth

Recovery in demand for bus travel began from March this year. “Travel is back with a vengeance this year and we can expect festive travel demand surges similar to pre-pandemic levels,” Sharma said, adding, “With most trains getting fully booked a month in advance and high airfares close to Diwali, we are seeing increasing search volumes for bus travel in advance this year indicating a greater certainty to travel.”

The festive period is one of the biggest seasons for redBus as well. The company is expecting significant travel during this season, which will primarily consist of people travelling to their hometowns or to some tourist destinations along with their families/friends.

As per 2019 estimates, around 7 crore passengers per day were transported by over 1.6 million buses registered in the country. Meanwhile, around 1 crore passengers use buses for intercity travel or other locations.

Kumar said that the inter-city segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 15 to 16 percent.

Keeping this growth in mind, the 2019-founded bus booking app is expecting to add around 1,500 buses in the next 30 months. It is looking at ferrying 2 lakh passengers daily in the next five years, added Kumar. In addition, the startup is in the advanced stage of talks with investors to support its expansion plan.

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(Edited by : Sangam Singh)