With more and more Indians looking for short breaks, long weekends are gradually becoming popular and there was 72 per cent growth in hotel bookings in this segment in August compared to last year, a report said. “If we compare August long weekends to any average day in this year, hotels show an impressive 72 per cent increase in bookings,” according to a report by Cleartrip. The report has compiled data from actual hotel bookings on Cleartrip during long weekends.

Further, the report said, the Independence Day and Janamasthmi weekend registered a whopping 121 per cent higher hotel bookings than other days in the month. “Long weekends have crafted a market of their own, contributing major business for online travel companies. For instance, the hotel bookings for the Independence Day weekend zoomed 121 per cent over other days,” Cleartrip Chief Marketing Officer Subramanya Sharma told PTI here.

Tourist spots

The report revealed Puducherry, Coorg (Karnataka), Ooty (Tamil Nadu), Kochi, Guwahati, Wayanad and Munnar (both in Kerala) the top holiday destinations people booked for in August. “We have observed an increasing demand for domestic destinations like Puducherry, Coorg and Ooty, among others, ” Sharma added.

Among international tourist spots, short-haul destinations like Phuket (Thailand), Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo and Male (Maldives) were the most preferred choices among the travellers. “We have observed a growth in demand for short-haul overseas destinations like Phuket, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo and Male,” Sharma said.

The report also found that Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata were some of the bigger cities that people travelled to during long weekends in August. It said the advance booking pattern was also higher than the previous year by 8 per cent for the Independence Day weekend and by 20 per cent for the Ganesh Chaturthi weekend. Cleartrip is an online travel company providing online booking services for flights, train tickets, hotels, domestic and international holiday packages.