Festival season sparks surge in travel

With the festive season kicking off with Ganesh Chathiurti travel demand is at an all-time high from domestic as well as foreign travellers. Keeping in mind the high demand for destinations like Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Pushkar and Jaipur – airfares and hotel tariffs, which have already seen a spike, are expected to remain high throughout the season. They have big groups coming in from different countries specially for trips planned around Indian festivals. “There is a lot of demand for Ganesh Chaturthi-themed trips in Maharashtra from Thai travellers. There is also a Thai group in Pune that is organising a big puja for Thai tourists. For Diwali, there is demand from travellers from the US and UK. They want to celebrate the festival in Varanasi and Rajasthan. Some travellers from France and Germany are coming to India to specially attend the Pushkar Fair and the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland,” says Anand Singh, director of Earthen Experiences based in Delhi. In the last one year, the number of travellers visiting Varanasi to attendDiwali (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/diwali) celebrations has increased significantly, says Sourabh Tiwari, director, Sushant Travels Pvt Ltd. “This year also we have tourists coming from Korea, US and UK, who want to see Diwali celebrations in Varanasi.” Despite an increase in airfares and hotel tariffs, tour companies say that they are witnessing over 100% surge in demand for travel for the festive season, and the World Cup fever has added to this. “Hotel tariffs are witnessing a surge of approx 200-300% (as compared to last year), especially in leading match destinations – Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow. Surface transportation has emerged on the radar given improved infrastructure coupled with supply constraints resulting in increased airfares. We are also witnessing customers displaying increased interest in train journeys,” says Daniel D’Souza, president & country head – holidays, SOTC Travel.