As Indian travelers are seen eagerly aligning getaways with long weekends, this monsoon highlights a shift in travel patterns transforming the rainy season into a prime time for adventure and exploration. To delve deeper into this category, T3 talks to Chirag Agrawal – Co-Founder, TravClan and Abdul Thingna, Vice President – Hotels & Holidays, Tripjack.
According to Adara, a RateGain company, Coorg in Karnataka leads with 1910% year-on-year growth in hotel bookings for domestic tourism. Kerala’s Varkala comes next with a 400% increase, followed by Goa with 366% rise in visitors. Velankanni (Tamil Nadu) and Jodhpur (Rajasthan) also emerge as top choices with 200% and 179% growth, respectively.
Internationally, cities such as Baku in Azerbaijan (399%), Mississauga (392%) and Markham in Canada (298%), Denpasar in Bali (155%), and San Francisco in the USA (106%) are leading the trend. Other popular international destinations include Tokyo, various cities in Canada, Germany, and Australia.
Monsoon Travel Response & Trends in 2024
“TravClan is witnessing shift from long-distance trips to shorter unplanned weekend getaways. We are anticipating a significant rise in demand for resorts and stays in destinations near metropolitan cities, such as Mukteshwar, Mahabaleshwar, Lansdowne, etc”, adds Agrawal. Agrawal further highlights the popularity of traveling during the long weekends that coincide with holidays like Independence Day, Rakshabandhan, Janmashtami, etc. “People want to make the best use of their time so domestic destinations like Himachal, Rajasthan, and Kerala are thriving due to their monsoon-friendly experiences and ease of exploration over short trips”, adds Agrawal.
He further adds, “Interestingly, an increase in queries for off-beat CIS destinations has been a common trend. Destinations like Georgia, Almaty, Baku etc. are popular among travelers since these destinations are not heavily impacted by the monsoon season.”
Thingna expresses that last year Tripjack saw a notable increase in domestic travel with States like Kerala and Goa attracting visitors despite being off-season. Additionally, short getaways to nearby metro destinations like Lonavala and Coorg were popular among urban travelers.
Thingna also adds that Kerala and Goa remains top choices domestically, and alongside Indian travelers are also preferring Bali and Mauritius internationally, followed by Singapore, Dubai as well as destinations like London, Paris, and Switzerland in Europe.
Marketing & Growth strategy
Agrawal adds that to combat the last-minute scramble for accommodations that often accompany these spontaneous trips, TravClan is strategically pre-purchasing hotel inventory and resorts in popular city getaway destinations.
He also adds, “We’re expanding our inventory to include unique accommodations that perfectly complement the season. We are contracting boutique resorts, instagrammable tree houses, and experiential stays at competitive rates. Finally, monsoon months are considered to be off-season for many destinations around the globe esp. Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam. However, this offers a great opportunity for us to target the deal hunters and sell budgeted fixed departures of these places to such customers.”
According to Thingna, Tripjack is using data-driven insights to launch marketing campaigns that align with current trends and searches. The strategy features creating content that highlights popular destinations during June to September. The goal is to spark excitement and engagement, boosting awareness of offerings and empowering travel partners to drive growth and success. “We have introduced our Check-In Guarantee and Best Rate Guarantee programs to ensure our travel partners can book with confidence and secure the best value on their bookings”, says Thingna.
