This Winter Holiday Season, Indians Are Heading To Cold Weather Destinations – OYO Travel Index 2018

New Delhi, 25 December 2018: OYO, South Asia’s largest and the world’s fastest-growing chain of hotels, homes and quality living spaces – today revealed that it has recorded a whopping 133% increase in bookings from solo travelers to cold destinations as compared to same period last year. OYO Travel Index 2018 also revealed that Shimla tops the list of cold destinations followed by Shillong, Gangtok, Mussoorie, Ooty, Dalhousie, among others, this winter having recorded a whopping 104% higher bookings in total this season.

The increase in solo travel this season is a result of various factors namely the appeal of an adventurous experience that allows one to explore new destinations and savor some quality ‘me time’, flexibility at work where individuals are allowed to work remotely as well as the ease of booking hotels across geographies at the push of a button.

Besides chilly destinations, people are planning travel to beach destinations too such as Goa, Puri, Pondicherry, Port-Blair, Alappuzha and Digha. These destinations have seen a 66% increase in bookings as compared to the 2017 winter holiday season. Interestingly, colder destinations are witnessing an increasing trend of couple as well as family vacationers when compared to beach destinations. The travel index reveals that there is a 99% increase in couple and 106% in family travelers to colder cities whereas the increase is 71% and 63% for couple and family travelers to beach cities respectively.

Speaking about the emerging trend, Burhanuddin Pithawala, Vice President, Conversions, OYO Hotels & Homes, said, “Technology is playing a huge role allowing all travelers –solo, couples as well as families and friends make and change plans in a jiffy with the help of their phones. Interestingly, solo travelers are the most significant contributors to bookings this holiday season. We only see this trend increasing year on year and are committed to ensuring that all travelers have a great holiday experience”

The OYO analysis reveals that in the North of India - Delhi, Jaipur, Shimla, and Udaipur are top destinations, whereas in South India - Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pondicherry, Kochi, Mysore, Ooty are top cities in terms of 2018 bookings. OYOs varied offerings like OYO Homes, OYO Townhouse as well as OYO Total Holidays are proving to be favorites with travelers this year.

About OYO:

OYO is South Asia’s largest and the world’s fastest-growing chain of hotels, homes and living spaces with footprints in more than 500 cities across India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, the UK, UAE and, recently, Indonesia. With 12,000-plus hotels and 3,000 homes in its chain, OYO is one of a kind, having pioneered the world’s first full-stack technology-led hospitality model. OYO is backed by leading investors, including the SoftBank Group, Greenoaks Capital, Sequoia India, Lightspeed India, Hero Enterprise and China Lodging Group.