As India enters its election season, a notable increase in travel activity is observed in various modes of transportation and accommodation.
Travel industry players are reporting an increase in bookings for air and bus travel, especially from metro cities to tier 1 and 2 cities like Patna, Jaipur, Kochi and Assam. This peak in demand coincides with the expected journey of migrant workers home to cast their votes.
According to industry players, the demand for air and bus travel has increased significantly in the next two months, especially from metro cities to tier 1 and 2 cities like Patna, Jaipur, Kochi, Assam , among others.
Indiver Rastogi, President & Group Head of Global Business Travel in Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel, said: “Our data indicates an increase of 8-30 percent compared to the same period last year. An’ another observation is that, with most of the authorities declaring holidays on the day of the elections, the young professionals of India do a clubbing this, especially if about a weekend, to spend time with the family.
Airfare data from ixigo reveals significant year-on-year differences, with routes such as New Delhi to Ranchi and Pune to Nagpur witnessing significant increases of 31 percent and 39 percent, respectively. On the contrary, the route from New Delhi to Amritsar shows the smallest increase, only 6 percent.
Similarly, SOTC data shows notable increases in airfares from major cities to various destinations, coinciding with India’s election year and the expected travel of migrant workers home for voting. Fares from Mumbai to Patna have increased by 16 percent, while fares to Kolkata have increased by 8 percent. From Delhi, fares to Patna have increased by 25 percent, with similar increases to other destinations such as Kochi, Assam and Indore.
Increase in prices
Increased demand for air travel around polling dates results in cascading jumps in air fares, especially from major metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune to home states . This is also in turn pushing people to take buses. Abhibus’ analysis of bus travel trends reveals a remarkable growth in travel activity in various States. Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh experienced significant increases ranging from 10 percent to 27 percent in the demand for bus travel this election season. Rohit Sharma, COO of Abhibus, said, “Electoral tourism is a fascinating phenomenon that reflects the deep commitment of citizens towards democratic participation.”
In the hotels segment, Cleartrip data indicates an increase in hotel bookings in several cities including Bengaluru, Mysore, Trivandrum, Kochi, Darjeeling, Udaipur and Jodhpur as campaigns flood the cities and levels of employment increase in the interior of India.
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