Cheaper flights, hotel deals add colour to Holi trips this season

NEW DELHI: A spate of attractive deals from hotels and carriers seems to have made Holi more colourful for online travel agencies (OTAs) with a 15% uptick in domestic and overseas bookings during the festival.

Cheaper flights have been the biggest draw this year. India’s largest OTA, MakeMyTrip, ran promotional Holi offers earlier this month in which domestic flight tickets of IndiGo were available from Rs 899 and Air Asia from Rs 1,083.

“Since Holi is on Thursday, travel enthusiasts are planning to celebrate the festival of colours at some of the most vibrant destinations by taking Friday off. As a result, the weekend has attracted a large number of domestic and international travel bookings with 15% surge in demand,” said Karan Anand, head of relationships at Cox & Kings. At Cox & Kings, Holi enthusiasts are buying tickets to Punjab, West Bengal, Lucknow, Karnataka, Delhi and Mumbai.

“Many travellers, mainly singles, couples and double-income-no-kids families, are setting out for foreign trips to places like Bhutan, Maldives, Thailand, Dubai and Nepal,” Anand said.

TripXOXO, a discovery and booking platform for activities, said it has seen a 30% uptick in pre-bookings for events such as Rangeen run in Mumbai, Holi camping at Dahanu and the river Bhatsa, and celebrating Holi with locals at Nandagaon — Lord Krishna’s village — and Barsana, where Radha belonged to.

“There is a limited number of long weekends in 2019. However, this doesn’t stop the travellers to plan a holiday. In March, we have received an overwhelming response for the Holi weekend. Experiential travel is booming,” said Heena J Akhtar, co-founder at TripXOXO.

Chains like the Taj have also lined up special attractions and offers for its palace properties in Rajasthan like the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, and the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur.

Guests can partake in private rituals and traditions once observed by the erstwhile royal families on Holi, a Taj spokesperson said.

“This year, we see that travellers are seeking to experience Holi in its real essence and are travelling to destinations known for celebrating the festival with zeal and religious fervour,” said Neelu Singh, CEO and director of booking platform Ezeego1.

There is a heavy demand for hotels and transfers in Delhi, Udaipur, Jaipur, Mathura, Vrindavan and places around Mumbai on the platform. “Many are heading to short-distance places like Alibaug, Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar, Murud, Kamshet, Kudal, Tarkarli, Gokarna, Goa and Igatpuri for a quick weekend trip before they take their summer vacation,” Singh said.