Travel surge expected during I-Day long weekend: Industry experts

A significant increase in travel is expected during the Independence Day long weekend beginning Thursday, according to industry experts. According to hotel booking platform Booking.com, the top 10 most searched domestic getaways during the long weekends in August are Udaipur, Lonavala, Jaipur, Ooty, Kodaikanal, Munnar, Goa, Mahabaleshwar, Varanasi and Puri. Moreover, the top five most searched metros in India during the long weekends in August are Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad. The booking platform looked at search sessions between 28 July-31-July, with check-in dates between 15 August-19 August and 24 August-26 August. "The surge in searches for both domestic and short-haul destinations during August's long weekends reflects this trend. While popular tourist hotspots remain attractive, we are also seeing rising interest in some destinations such as Hampi, Madikeri, Ujjain and Gokarna," Santosh Kumar, Country Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at