Long weekend brings cheer to hotels, travel firms as demand picks up

Travel and airline executives say leisure demand is now slowly returning with an increase in bookings to popular getaways this weekend

The ongoing long weekend has turned out to be a bright spot for the tourism sector. Travel companies have seen a pick-up in demand over the previous month.
 
In the first two months after the easing of lockdown restrictions by the end of May, most bookings were for a one-way journey, as people mostly travelled for essential purposes.
 
Now, travel and airline executives say that leisure demand is slowly returning, with an increase in bookings to popular weekend gateways this weekend.
 
“For the long weekend, we are noticing some leisure demand and better loads, which have been