Holiday Rush: Most Top-end Hotels Sold Out For The Year-end Despite The Rise In Overseas Travel

India's leisure destinations are experiencing a surge in year-end holiday bookings, with increased occupancy and higher room tariffs than last year. Luxury hotels in Rajasthan, including those owned by IHCL, are nearing full capacity, while Goa and other famous locations are also seeing strong demand and increased average daily rates.

Famous leisure destinations across India continue attracting hordes of travellers for the year-end holiday season, with an uptick in occupancy and room tariffs over last year. This is despite the growing popularity of international travel, especially to short-haul locations in Southeast Asia.

The Raffles Udaipur is Oswald out for New Year's Eve, as a business tycoon in India has booked the entire luxury hotel for his family's year-end celebration from December 30 to January 2. Mementos by ITC Hotels, Ekaaya, Udaipur, is nearly sold out. Almost all the properties of Indian Hotels Company Ltd in Rajasthan are also close to getting booked to capacity for Christmas and New Year's Eve, a phase that leads to blackout dates in the sector.

"Strategically, we decided not to accept wedding bookings around Christmas and New Year's Eve, but we still see properties getting booked to capacity. Rates for IHCL's palace properties in Rajasthan are up 25 per cent over last year, and occupancies are 8 per cent higher than last year for the year-end season," said Ashok Singh Rathore, area director of operations for Rajasthan at IHCL and the general manager of Rambagh Palace in Jaipur. IHCL has around 26 properties across segments in Rajasthan.

The Tata Group's hospitality chain also expects its properties in Goa, one of India's top leisure destinations, to perform better than last year.

"December looks quite healthy, and we expect our average daily rates to be 4 to 5 per cent higher than last year. We expect a better October to December quarter than last year," said Ranjit Phillips, senior vice president of operations in Goa at IHCL.

The company has 35 properties across segments in Goa. A spokesperson for ITC Hotels said that Stroii properties are seeing high interest in bookings across segments, including Dharamshala and Goa, in the leisure segment.

A spokesperson for ITC Hotels said that in the leisure segment, Storii properties are seeing high interest in bookings across segments, including Dharamshala and Goa. "Welcomed Chail, Amritsar, Jim Corbett, Shimla, and Welcome Hotel Pahalgam are on a similar trajectory. ITC Grnad Go, an ITC Mughal and ITC Rajputana are all registering impressive occupancies," the spokesperson added.

Nikhil Sharma, MD and area senior VP for South Asia at Radisson Hotel Group said average room rates are about 10 per cent higher than last year in leisure locations such as Kashmir, Udaipur, Lonavala, Karjat, Goa, and Pondicherry. "The revenue per available room will be about 10-14 percent higher than last year for some of these markets," he said.

Lemon Tree Hotels properties in leisure locales such as Goa and Bandhavgarh are expected to perform better during this year-end holiday season than last year, said Vilas Pawar, CEO of Lemon Tree Hotels' franchise division at Lemon Tree Hotels.

Leisure Hotels Group is also experiencing a prominent rise in Christmas and New Year bookings this year, with several properties, particularly those in hill destinations, nearing full occupancy, said Shahzad Aslam, head of sales at the chain. "Bookings trends suggest that all properties are expected to sell out as we approach the New Year," he added.  

As per MakeMyTrip, the most booked domestic holiday packages are for the Andamans, Kerala, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, and Kashmir. Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO of MakeMyTrip, said the trend is towards spending more on hotels for an unforgettable holiday. Despite higher airfares and hotel tariffs, customers are experiencing an increased appetite for destinations such as Kerala, Kashmir, Gia and the Northeast, said Rajeev Kale, president and country head for holidays MICE and Visa at Thomas Cok India.

Jaspreet Sinh, General Manager at Six Senses Vana, said many travellers are booking solace and rejuvenation, and the number of people opting for the property's wellness retreats and programmes for the upcoming festive season remains robust.

SD Nandakumar, president and country head for holidays and corporate tours at SOTC Travel Limited, said the company has seen a tangible uptick in interest from customers over the past year, particularly among India's Gen Z and millennials for travel to spiritual hubs like Ayoddhya, Varanasi, and Prayagraj for the upcoming Kumbh Mela festival as well as cultural festivals like the Rann Utsav and Bikaner Camel Fair.

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