Mr. Kale added that extending the weekend by taking a day off from work was giving rise to an interesting concept of ‘smart weekend holidays’, providing a distinctive boost to travel demand. The travel agency said this festival tourism had been a “boon” for the company with its domestic travel business seeing an increase of 12% in demand. Yatra.com said it had witnessed a 57% increase in booking enquires compared to last year as more and more people planned short trips during the long weekend of Holi. Pocket-friendlyMr. Dhall added that some travellers were also looking at international destinations such as Bhutan, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal, which are pocket-friendly. Likewise, Manmeet Ahluwalia, marketing head at Expedia in India, said they had observed change in outlook towards celebrating festivals in India.

Source: The Hindu March 21, 2019 16:18 UTC