G20 summit to be held from Sep 9-10; offers Delhiites another long weekend

As international delegations descend on Delhi for the G20 Leaders' Summit, to be held from September 9 to 10, Delhiites are planning to utilise the time for a short holiday.

With Janmashthmi falling on September 7 and the Delhi government having announced a public holiday on September 8, the long weekend has given people an opportunity to take a short break.

“Our data reflects a significant demand uptick of 30-40 per cent for both driveable destinations and favourites like Goa, Port Blair, Chandigarh, Kochi, etc,” said Indiver Rastogi, president and group head, global business travel, Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel.

Hotels situated in short-haul destinations around Delhi-NCR are seeing an uptick in demand.

“Delhiites are looking at a quick getaway to driveable destinations and making the most of the extended weekend. Over the past few days, we are seeing an increase in searches for accommodations in cities like Jaipur, Udaipur, Varanasi, Agra, and Amritsar and are expecting the demand to further pick up closer to the dates,” said a spokesperson at travel website Booking.com.

This upsurge in demand has had a cascading effect on airfares as well.

“Given the supply-side constraints during this period, we have observed a 20-50 per cent increase in airfares to and from Delhi and other metros like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, and India’s Tier-II and Tier-III cities,” added Rastogi.

He further said that short-haul international destinations including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Maldives, Mauritius, Dubai-Abu Dhabi, and Oman have also emerged strongly for the upcoming long weekend.

According to a recent report released by Booking.com, three in five Indians prefer to travel during long weekend holidays instead of staying at home, with the majority preferring to travel to north and south India.