An interesting trend is playing out as India's 77th Independence Day approaches. With 15 August falling on a Thursday, and Raksha Bandhan on Monday, 19 August, a potential five-day long weekend beckons for those willing (and able) to take the Friday off. This has resulted in tariffs of holiday resorts shooting up across the country even as business hotels roll out discounts to retain business.
Luxury resort properties are likely to see a rate increase of 15-60% during this period depending on the location. For instance, the Oberoi Sukhvilas in Chandigarh is sold out for 14-19 August, while its Agra property will sell upwards of ₹37,500 a night for a regular room, about 15-25% higher than its usual rates, Mint found in its research.
Similarly, pool view suites at the plush ITC Grand Bharat in a remote corner of Gurugram in Delhi-NCR will start from ₹32,000 a night excluding tax, which is ₹8,000 higher than its usual rate.
Then, Suryagarh Jaisalmer and Narendra Bhawan Bikaner are being prepared for a thronging crowd to come in to stay as the mega long weekend approaches. Sameer Mehra, chief commercial officer of MRS Group, the company behind these luxe properties, is expecting a 15-27% increase in occupancies on this long weekend over last year.
“By adding one day on either side of this weekend, it becomes a five-day long holiday," said Mehra. "A lot of travellers still have hybrid work systems and so at least at our properties, we have not seen any decline in travellers even though international travel has resumed in full swing.”
According to Mehra, the Suraygarh property will see a 27% increase in travellers this long weekend but a relatively modest increase in prices of about 10%. Narendra Bhawan Bikaner, on the other hand, will have a similar increase in the number of travellers because of good connectivity to bigger cities, including direct flights, and will take a 50-60% increase in its room rates for this period.
“We are witnessing nearly a 20% surge in demand for resorts and hotels versus last year and anticipate this trend to further accelerate mid-August," said Nikhil Sharma, MD and area senior VP for South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, adding that newer destinations like Kumbhalgarh, Saputara, Pondicherry, and Mahabalipuram along with Udaipur, Jaipur and Agra are seeing the most traction from travellers.
“Our guests are also willing to spend 20% higher than previous years on hotels that offer exceptional experiences and good value,” Sharma said. "This uptick in bookings throughout our portfolio is promising and we are positive that momentum will continue.”
While domestic hotel tariffs for last-minute bookings have increased as compared to last year, low-season offers from hotels and luxury stays (deals like free extension stays, complimentary meals) are driving strong interest for companies like Thomas Cook India.
Indiver Rastogi, president and group head for global business travel, Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel, said, "The extended weekend of 15-19 August is propelling strong travel to domestic locales like Shimla, Leh-Ladakh, Goa, Andamans, Coorg, Jaipur and short-haul destinations like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Baku, Almaty and Bali despite an increase in airfares. An increase in airfares for the top routes versus the previous year are between 11% and 17% higher across some of these domestic routes," he said.
"All our hotels at leisure destinations have reported confirmed bookings at an occupancy rate of 90-95%, accompanied by a 30% increase in the average daily rate (ADR). Destinations such as Bhimtal, Jaipur, Goa, and Agra have emerged as our top-selling getaway locations," said Ajay K. Bakaya, managing director, Sarovar Hotels, and director of Louvre Hotels India.
To be sure, people looking to just laze around for a staycation at a hotel in their city can get a great bargain on hotels since they will be doling out offers and rates better than usual.
For instance, Lemon Tree Hotels' properties across different cities will offer up to 40% off on stay during this period and a payment of 77% on food and beverage packages or a discount of 23% to celebrate the 77th year of Independence. Rates are at least 50-70% cheaper, starting at ₹11,500 a night for a standard room.
Similarly, at luxury property, The Imperial New Delhi, travellers can get a room at ₹14,000 a night without taxes as opposed to the standard ₹16,000-25,000 range. A room in Taj Chennai will cost just ₹9,000 excluding taxes but a Radisson resort in Mahabalipuram will be over ₹40,000 a night.
Two friends from Delhi in their mid-30s are travelling to Baku, Azerbaijan from 14-20 August. Within just a week from when they checked the airfares and when they finalised their plan, the return tickets had shot up from ₹35,000 per person to ₹50,000.
The duo will stay at a plush Marriott hotel in Azerbaijan's capital city, a new hot favourite for Indian travellers. “Even if we travelled to a city like Goa, it would have worked out to a similar amount of money. This is because a similar luxury property for five nights in Goa would have been four to five times the cost. So why not this?” said one of the travellers.
Despite the increased airfares, Thomas Cook is also witnessing strong demand for travel in this traditional non-peak season. From an international perspective, airfares from Mumbai and Delhi have seen a similar increase of 4-21% to short-haul destinations like Azerbaijan, Georgia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Interestingly, a few sectors have seen a slight dip of 8%. These are to Singapore and Malaysia, said Rastogi of Thomas Cook India.
A spokesperson for online travel agency Cleartrip told Mint that internationally, it was Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Bali and Malaysia that were also emerging as the usual favourites. Overall, compared to the same period last year, this year's hotel prices are higher by about 12% with locations like Goa, Udaipur, Pondicherry, Munnar and Lonavala emerging as top booked in terms of hotels, the spokesperson added.
Domestically, travel companies are also waiting to get closer to the travel week as Indians generally book a lot of last-minute travel. MakeMyTrip, for instance, said almost 50% of its flight bookings and 55% of hotel bookings are done within a week ahead of travel. Competitor EaseMyTrip has also announced an independence day sale for travellers to induce some additional demand.
The country's domestic air travel increased to an all-time high in May 2024, but hotel occupancy rates in India remained flat from a year ago, according to a recent report from hospitality consultancy HVS Anarock. This may have contributed to domestic hotel companies offering some discounts.
One segment of travellers has also started to travel abroad unlike during and after the pandemic when there was a huge focus on domestic holidays. One reason for this could be easy- and no-visa countries facilitating travel. Short-haul or nearby destinations have helped induce international holiday demand as well. As a result, critical travel regions like Goa, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have shown some slowdown in business.
