Chennai: Mahakumbh, which saw crores of pilgrims thronging in, witnessed air fares and hotel tariffs shooting up multi-fold. For the upcoming summer travel season, the travel sector is seeing an increase in enquiries, but the geo-political tensions and uncertainties are working against bookings. Airfares from different cities in the country to Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad Jabalpur airports, which are closer to Prayagraj were up more than 30 per cent during the Mahakumbh days. The hotel rates went up over 10-fold in many cases. “All the flights were operating in full occupancies and the rates were at least 30 per cent more. The hotel rates had skyrocketed. We have seen three-star hotels charging Rs 35,000 and Rs 38,000 per night against Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 charged in regular times. Even the hotels in cities like Mumbai and Delhi have seen hotel rates going up by around 35 per cent as non-resident Indians have been flying down to participate in the mela,” said Iqbal Mulla, president, Global Tourism Council. SOTC Travel saw search volumes surging by over 31x against that in the same period of 2019 and 171x against 2024. “The demand for Mahakumbh has been exceptionally high and this includes both our metro and regional source markets, led by Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Pune, Delhi. With direct air routes and pricing facing understandable demand-supply constraints, we had created a viable hub and spoke optional routes like Lucknow, Agra, Delhi, Jaipur, Patna and Ayodhya. We also operated feeder bus services across the country to ensure smooth operations,” said SD Nandakumar, President & Country Head – Holidays and Corporate Tours, SOTC Travel. SOTC’s premium tents and services saw overwhelming demand. “Despite our advance planning and bulk-purchased inventory, we were encouraged with an almost sold-out position far earlier than anticipated. We quickly pivoted to contract significant additional volumes – and this was across air, tent accommodation and on-ground land transportation, meals, local experiences, etc,” said Rajeev Kale, President and Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa – Thomas Cook. Meanwhile, travel operators are seeing around 20 per cent increase in enquiries for summer travel. “Higher disposable income due to higher rate of tax exemptions is supporting the travel industry. Enquiries are higher for international destinations. However, the turmoil in several markets is a major challenge,” said Mulla. The issuance of visas to the US has become tough and the scrutiny is stringent after the change in the government. The political tensions are holding back travel plans to the Middle East. However, CIS countries, some of the European countries and Asian destinations are seeing increased bookings.
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