Staycations most preferred this Valentine’s Day: Travel portals

As Valentine’s Day is around the corner, portals have witnessed that young Indian couples are looking forward to spending quality time with their partners this weekend

GoIbibo said more than 70% of the bookings for the weekend starting February 13, have been made for couple-friendly hotels, and this is only expected to increase as V-Day approaches. (HT Photo)

As Valentine’s Day is around the corner, portals have witnessed that young Indian couples are looking forward to spending quality time with their partners this weekend. They also said that more couples, this Valentine’s, have preferred home or hotel stays due to Covid-19 pandemic.

GoIbibo said more than 70% of the bookings for the weekend starting February 13, have been made for couple-friendly hotels, and this is only expected to increase as V-Day approaches.

Sunil Suresh, group chief marketing officer, GoIbibo said “Since the unlock phase, we are seeing strong growth momentum within the couple-friendly segment. In terms of the duration, more than 78% hotel properties are booked for a day –with many opting for three-star or budget category hotels.”

The significant metro cities which have witnessed a rise in enquiries or bookings for staycations are Bengaluru followed Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Kolkata. Additionally, destinations like Goa, Jaipur, Darjeeling and Coorg have seen adequate occupancy rise as well.

Yatra.com said this year, they have witnessed around 20% hike in demand for staycation options and driveway destinations as customer confidence is building up.

“Over the years, we have seen travellers move away from traditional travel options and choose adventure tourism, eco-tourism, and staycations among others for an enriching experience. In 2021, for accommodation, we have seen a surge in enquiries for options such as homestays, cottages, and premium and luxury hotel properties. Travellers are well aware of the health and safety measures, and due importance is being given to hygiene norms while choosing any particular destination as well,” said Sabina Chopra, co-founder and chief operating officer, corporate travel and head industry relations of Yatra.com.

Portals are also offering discounts to attract passengers. For instance, Cleartrip is offering up to ₹2,000 on round trips for bookings between February 8 and 11 for travel between February 12 and 14.

There is also a possible long weekend for some with Basant Panchami on February 16 which is a Tuesday, said Rajiv Subramanian, vice president, Cleartrip.

“Goa has been the preferred leisure destination of choice in the post lockdown period and this has continued for the Valentine’s Day weekend. The increase in advance bookings i.e. booking more than 30 days in advance was noticed for Valentine’s Day period. We have seen the share of 5-star and 4-star hotels increasing to account for more than 70% of our bookings”, said Subramanian.

According to Booking.com Devanahalli (Karnataka), Hampi (Karnataka), Candolim (Goa), Puducherry (Tamil Nadu) and Jodhpur (Rajasthan) are the top trending destinations for Indians travelling within India as compared to the same time last year (8th to 15th February 2021)

Ritu Mehrotra, regional manager, South Asia at Booking.com said, “Cola (Goa), Chikmagalur (Karnataka), Yercaud (Tamil Nadu), Mysore (Karnataka) and Neemrana (Jaipur) are the top endorsed destinations for romantic escapes by Indians travelling domestically. In addition to hotels, resorts, guesthouses and hostels are the top booked accommodation types by Indian travellers travelling domestically during Valentine’s week (8th to 15th February 2021).

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