LuxeBook September 2022

T he pandemic impacted some sectors worse than others, travel and hospitality being one of them. But it also gave birth to the curious phenomenon of revenge travel, where people were waiting for borders to open, to start travelling again, more frequently than usual, to make up for lost time. While the pandemic worked as a major setback for both international (and domestic) tourism, once borders opened and restrictions were brought down, travel resumed at a vigorous pace. Domestic tourismboomed in Indiawhile international travel witnessed a decline from which it is yet to recover. This was one of the biggest and most prominent changes that happened during the lockdown. According to a 2021 report by Thomas Cook, tourism had increased by 300 per cent from pre-pandemic levels. It was during this time that the citizens were ‘forced’ to travel domestic and started accepting everything India has to offer said Devendra Parulekar, Founder, SaffronStays….. “They were more than willing to explore lesser-known destinations and experience Make-In-India for what it really is.” Adding further Udit Kumar, Co-founder, Brij Hotels shared that Domestic tourism has witnessed a massive uptick in recent years. Kumar believes this demand has further increased as the USD heavily appreciated against the rupeee, which makes it more expensive to travel overseas. Further, huge delays in obtaining visas to travel internationally have led to an increased demand for travel within India. With international borders opening up, travel is back with a vengeance. But are numbers back to what they were pre-pandemic? BY ARUSHI SAKHUJA International travel yet to pick up after pandemic scare A gorgeous Glasshouse Celeste at the Uttarakhand Saffron Stays property “Domestic travel is no longer just about weekends,” rather, Parulekar noticed two major trends that gained popularity in the last three years — workcations and driving to destinations. “With remote working/hybrid models, Indians were queuing up to get away from the cities on weekdays and weekends, and drive-to destinations close to their residences.” But Udit Kumar, Co-Founder, Brij Hotels noticed yet another change in travellers pointing to the fact that... “... booking windows which used to be approximately 60-90 days have now reduced to 30 days or shorter.”Kumar also sawa change in the number of travel days, “…. pre-pandemic the average length of stay was 2 nights, and now it is upwards of 2.5 to 3.5 nights on average.” He attributes this to the fact that customers are now looking to spend more quality time in one destination, versus choosing to travel across multiple destinations during a holiday. But some of the popular destinations amongst domestic tourists that have witnessed excellent business according to Udit Kumar remain hill stations, and resorts ted in drivable destinations from tier 1 and 2 cities, Coorg, Ooty and states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. “We have also seen an increase in demand for jungle or safari destinations like Ranthambore, Jawai and Kabini. Now as the monsoon has set in, there is a rise in travel interest for winter destinations, for example, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh,” he shared further. Although this was the silver lining that helped the hospitality industry get through these trying times, there was also a decrease in the number of international tourists visiting the country – a key contributing factor to the overall revenue. The impact of the pandemic Before the pandemic hit, travel and tourism contributed to 10 per cent of global GDP. It was thanks to the substantial number of people who took international trips that in 2019, the number had reached 1.5 billion. However, there was a major stall that impacted the overall GDP of the world due to the pandemic. For two long years, international travel, which was a way of life, became a distant dream but finally, there was some light at the end of the tunnel in 2022 when travel resumed. The summer of 2022 saw travel return with a vengeance. “This summer has shown a lot of pent-up interest in travelling. People have been confined to Brij Lakshman Sagar, Rajasthan Devendra Parulekar, Founder, SaffronStays INBOUND TRAVEL 14| L U X E B O O K | S E P T E MB E R 2 0 2 2 S E P T E MB E R 2 0 2 2 | L U X E B O O K | 15