Tourism on a swing: Flight hunt spikes 124%, airfare surges 40% ahead of Diwali

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Ahead of Diwali, flight searches for travel between October 19 and October 24, have witnessed a 124 percent rise for domestic flights in India. For international destinations, flight searches were up by 133 percent higher than the pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest data released by KAYAK.

In the same period, however, airfares have risen by nearly 40 percent.

The report further added that October 21 is expected to be the busiest day at Indian airports. The most expensive and the cheapest days to fly for return economy domestic flights over the holiday period will be October 19 and 22 respectively.

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The festive season, among other factors, has driven the revival of the travel and hospitality sector, various executives at travel and hospitality companies told Moneycontrol.

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"We have witnessed an increase in booking enquiries by 50-60 percent for the festive season this year as compared to last year," Aditya Gupta, Senior Vice President at Yatra.com, told Moneycontrol.

"Additionally, there has been a 70 percent increase in booking enquiries specifically for hotels as compared to last year," he added.

Travellers are exploring various accommodation options with unique experiences, such as homestays, resorts, and heritage properties.

"For Domestic air travel, the recovery is around 90 percent compared to the pre-pandemic level," said Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder & Group CEO of MakeMyTrip.

"From festivals, we do anticipate our bookings increase by more than 50% this year," said Nishant Pitti, Co-founder and CEO of EaseMyTrip.

Kashmir, Jaipur and Himachal Pradesh were among the top travel destinations for Indians. On the other hand, according to KAYAK's data, Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore were the top international destinations.

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“The top domestic destinations seeing traction this festive season are Kashmir, Jaipur, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and religious destinations such as Tirupati and Shirdi as well,” Gupta said.

Apart from festive travel, corporate travel and visits to friends and relatives have also boosted flight searches.

“There has also been a gradual increase in demand for corporate travel as MICE is picking up and offices are gradually moving away from the work-from-home model,” a spokesperson of international airlines Vistara said.

MICE stands for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions.

"Internationally, travel is mainly being driven by the VFR (visiting friends and relatives), and leisure segments," Magow said.

However, long-haul international travel is yet to recover.

"Long haul international travel is somewhat impacted right now due to high fares due to oil prices led inflation and visa backlog with Europe and US," Magow added.

High hotel bookings in Kolkata, Bangalore

Indian hospitality chain OYO said that they are expecting the highest bookings in Kolkata, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

"We're already seeing a healthy rise in booking enquiries by 90-100 percent for the festive season this year as compared to 2021. We expect the highest demand to stem from Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai," a spokesperson of OYO said.

"With the festivals like Christmas and New Year soon-to-come, people are making reservations in advance and we are witnessing an overall surge in bookings. We do not expect the current travel trend to be affected much after this festive season is over and anticipate a steady stream of bookings," Pitti added.