I-Day long weekend: Hotel occupancy, room rates set to surge

Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip told PTI, Independence Day has emerged as a key travel occasion over the years.

"This year too, the search and booking trends point to strong intent to travel over the Independence Day weekend. With Independence Day on a Friday, travel demand appears to be peaking two days earlier, on Wednesday (13 August), giving early travellers a five-day window," he shared. 

According to him, the top trending domestic destinations are Goa, Udaipur, Jaipur, Puri, Lonavala, Varanasi, Coorg, Mahabaleshwar, Ooty and Pondicherry, while the leading international destinations are Pattaya, Bali, Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Phuket, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Zurich and London. Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO of Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), the country's biggest hospitality firm, which owns the Taj brand, said, "The long weekend is looking very good. We have a lot of resort destinations, so we are very pleased to see all the buoyancy come back". 

K B Kachru, President, Hotel Association of India (HAI) and Chairman, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, said this year, 15 August falls on a Friday, offering an ideal opportunity for staycations and short holidays. HAI member hotels are well-prepared to accommodate the surge, with many already witnessing a rise in advance bookings. -- PTI