Rise in bookings for short haul places for long weekends

With the first long weekend of the year beginning from today, there has been a rise in short haul destination bookings to international destinations like Dubai whereas on the domestic front Kerala has clearly emerged as the favourite among Indian travellers, a report said.
"2017 is expected to be a great year for Indian travellers with 14 long weekends. Ideally, one can plan a trip every month with at least one long weekend," FCM Travel Solutions Managing Director Rakshit Desai said quoting the report.
Headquartered in Australia, Flight Shop is the flagship retail leisure business of global travel group Flight Centre Travel Group (FCM).

The data are based on actual bookings made on Flight Shop.
Desai said, for the first one with departures beginning from January 27, there has been a rise in short haul destination bookings to Dubai, Singapore and Thailand.
These destinations have always seen an increased interest on account of easy accessibility and minimum travel time combined with the leisure of weekend holidays, he added.
While on the domestic front, the perennial favourites for Indian travellers are cultural delights like Kerala for its ethos and heritage, Himachal for the overwhelming beauty and serenity, Rajasthan for not only its eternal royalty and grandeur but also for its bustling essence of musical and literature festivals and pleasant weather condition, he said.

"Along with short hauls and domestic destinations, we have observed that self-drive holidays have also gained a lot of traction. Destinations such as Bengaluru, Mysore and Ooty are popular in the South while Udaipur, Jaipur and Himachal are preferred choices in the North of India," Desai said.