Travel Fintech Startup SanKash Reveals How India Travel During Long Weekends

Saw 40% bookings from West India, 31% from South, 26% from North and 4% from East India for August’s long weekend vacation trips

SanKash, India’s only travel fintech brand that facilitates online and offline travel operators to provide innovative payment plans to their customers, today revealed latest data on travel trends for long weekends. Over 95% of the bookings received by SanKash were from families with the remaining 5% for trips with friends.

The latest data also revealed primary bookings coming from metros and tier 1 and 2 cities, namely Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Pune, Kolkata, Kochi and Jaipur. Over 40% of the bookings came from West India, followed by 31% from South, 26% from North and 4% from Eastern India. According to OYO’s consumer survey, 37% travelers have a preference for mountains, 33% for beaches in India.

Travelers also start making their long weekend travel plans fairly in advance to beat the rush. Flights and trains are booked more than one month in advance, mostly due to cheaper rates and limited seats. Online Travel Aggregators (OTA) generally observe a 40-50% increase in advance air ticket bookings during long weekends. There is a substantial rise in leisure travel, with a significant number of travelers opting for group and family trips over solo vacations. Multi-generational families, millennials and young professionals, couples and honeymooners are driving demand, with destinations like Kashmir leading traveler preferences, followed by Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and the North-East.

Commenting on the travel trends by Indians, Akash Dahiya, Co-founder, SanKash said, “Long weekends have become the new way of enjoying time with families and friends. As two festivals – Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami falling closer together, it’s no surprise that many people are traveling back to their families from metros, where they work or live. Families also look to spend time together to catch a breather from their daily routines and hence, we see a huge demand for family trips to destinations such as Goa, Jaipur, Manali, Ooty and Mysore. We also witnessed many advanced bookings, which indicates that people are actively planning for long weekend outings.”

SanKash is the country’s only travel fintech aggregator that enables travelers to spread the cost of their travel into digestible payments spread over a period of 3 to 24 months by partnering with leading travel merchants.

The company also suggests tips to ensure before planning for long weekends:

1. Advance Booking: Customers should book their travel plan well in advance to ensure getting good rates.

2. Safety: Ensure while traveling, the aspect of safety is well covered. During long weekend holiday plans, there are a lot of people who like to travel and hence many places get too full. It’s needed that wherever the booking is happening, mode of transport should be safe. Also, carry your important documents that can be produced wherever necessary.

3. Comfort: While booking your plan, it is necessary to consider “Comfort” as one of the preferences whilst traveling with family, kids and/ or friends. Comfort ensure a good travel experience.

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