With most schools closing for mid-year holidays and upcoming festivals and long weekends, October and November have turned out to be months of travel for the people of Bengaluru. From travelling to Mysuru and the surrounding regions to witness the world-famous Dasara celebrations to flying to destinations like Bangkok and Dubai, long holidays are on the board this season.
Private tour operators in the city reported that packages that span over four days and five nights and 10 days and nine nights are being widely preferred by travellers. “These packages are being sought after by families and couples. The Gokarna – Murudeshwar – Dharmasthala – Sringeri circle tours are doing very well along with the Mysuru – Ooty – Kodagu circle tours. Many are also travelling to Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” said Imran from Prestige Holidays Tours and Travel on Residency Road.
“As compared to the previous year, we have witnessed an increase of 20% (in the number of bookings) from Bengaluru during this period. We expect this positive trend to continue,” said Rikant Pittie, Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip.
The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) has also seen an uptick in the number of travellers this year and officials said that most of their properties have a 100% occupancy rate for the next few weeks. “From October 2 till the first week of November, almost all of our properties are completely booked. Post pandemic, people have realised that they want to spend their money on travel. Hence, they are travelling everywhere and enjoying themselves,” said Mahesh Babu, General Manager (Admin), KSTDC.
Mysuru, KRS, Bandipur, Barachukki, Jog Falls, Belur and Halebidu are some of the destinations in South Karnataka that are on top of the list of those booking packages from KSTDC while Kamalapura, Vijayapura, Hampi and Badami in the northern part of the State have also gained traction among tourists.
International travel
According to “How India Travels Abroad”, a report that was recently released by Make My Trip, an online travel company (based on travel trends between June 2023 and May 2024), Karnataka stands second in the list of States that conduct the highest number of searches for international travel destinations. UAE, Thailand, and the U.S.A. are the most searched by the people of Karnataka according to the report. The State also figures in the top list of States that spend on premium hotel bookings.
Tour operators agree with these trends as they have received a good number of bookings for this month to international destinations. “Residents of Bengaluru are travelling abroad more frequently than they did in the past. Top destinations for Bengalureans are Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. There has been a rise of approximately 10% in outbound travel from Bengaluru, indicating a growing trend in international tourism,” Mr. Pittie remarked.
Published - October 02, 2024 10:16 pm IST
