India most booked destination globally in 2020, Delhi on top: Oyo report

Gandhi Jayanti and Christmas weekends were the country's favourite holidays to travel in 2020. In December, over 1.7 million people have checked in over the weekends so far

India has topped the charts for being the most booked country in 2020, according to an Oyo report. Even though the hotels and hospitality sector suffered a major setback after the Covid-19 outbreak, Delhi clocked in the most bookings across the world during the year, states the Oyo Travelopedia 2020.

Since the unlock began, the northern cities of Jaipur, Udaipur and Agra were the most loved heritage cities with Puri emerging as India’s top pilgrimage destination and Goa being the most booked beach destination in the country. Gandhi Jayanti and Christmas weekends were the country’s favourite holidays to travel in 2020, says the annual year-end travel index. In December, over 1.7 million people checked-in over the weekends so far. 

“The findings of Oyo’s Travelopedia is a testament that India is ready to travel again and we at Oyo are here along with our partners ready to welcome them again,” said Rohit Kapoor, CEO, Oyo Hotels & Homes, India & South Asia. 

Currently, Goa and Himachal Pradesh are the most in demand to ring in the New Year. “While 2021 will be a new learning in itself, we’re hopeful that the changes we have brought in 2020 will set new precedents in the travel and hospitality sector and we are completely motivated to work towards providing safe stays to all our customers,” said Kapoor.

Additionally, the Oyo data revealed that Delhi NCR, Karnataka, Telangana led the pack as the most welcoming states in the post-lockdown world. Also, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad ranked as the most popular cities among business travellers while Jaipur, Goa, Kochi were travellers’ favorite domestic leisure hotspots.

In total over 8.5 million new user bookings were made on the Oyo app and website in 2020. A single user stayed at Oyo hotels 128 times during the year while 73,000 repatriated Indians completed their institutional quarantine at Oyos across India. Amongst these, most bookings were made by guests travelling from West Asia, primarily UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar.

SoftBank-backed Oyo with a presence in countries like the US, China and Japan, apart from India, was hit hard by the pandemic as the hospitality sector slumped. But it has now been able to touch 85 per cent of the gross margin dollars of its pre-Covid levels. Going forward, the company will continue to focus on two core businesses – its hotels and holiday homes.

How India travelled in 2020

. Delhi emerged as the most booked destination globally

. Puri emerged as India’s top pilgrimage destination

. Goa was the most booked beach destination

. Jaipur, Udaipur and Agra were the most loved heritage cities for Indians

. 8.5 million new user bookings made on OYO app and website 

. 1.7 million people checked-in over the weekends in December