Weekend travel becomes the new craze, as work pressure shrinks vacation time

There’s a new kind of holiday in the diary, and this one doesn’t require months of packing or planning. All it needs is a long weekend. The short vacation has become a hot travel trend, letting people slip away without a mountain of work piling up in office. It’s a winwin for travel portals and agencies as well since people are taking short but more frequent breaks.
“Weekend travel is the new craze,” says Karan Anand, head (relationships) at Cox & Kings, which has seen 30% year-on-year growth in shortbreak packages. On the other hand, 40-45% of Ezeego1.com’s 2014 sales came from weekend trips; for Kuoni-SOTC this figure is 25-30%.

One reason behind the popularity of the quick getaway is work pressure, which has shrunk vacation time for many professionals. Add to this the lure of flash sales by airlines and hotels, and it’s no surprise that travellers with high disposable incomes favour short trips. In fact, the four-week holiday is fast becoming history. Long weekend getaways are like power naps for hectic and stressful work lives,“ says Samyukth Sridharan, president and COO, Cleartrip. The travel website saw a 65% surge in advance purchases for long weekend getaways in 2014. Besides, the number of customers who booked weekend travel on its site nearly doubled during the same period.

With 2015 packing 13 long weekends, starting with the Republic Day holiday that falls on a Monday this month, industry players say the short holiday trend is bound to stay robust. Travel pundits say that planning in advance is smart because early bookers can save up to 40% on costs.

“In the past two-three years, airlines have been announcing low fares every two months. People who have their weekend breaks planned book at these low fares at least three six months ahead.They know that even if they cannot make it, the cost of cancellation is just a few thousands,“ says Anand. Airfares comprise the biggest component of a holiday package.

Mobile phones have made booking easier and quicker. A recent study highlighted that bookings over smartphones for weekend travel -especially during flash sales ­ have gone up.

Weekend travel is particularly popular among young double-income-no-kids (DINK) travellers and high net-worth individuals. While many prefer driving down to locations close to home or taking off to places within the country , some choose to fly to close short-haul international destinations. Proximity to the country, budget-friendliness and visa-on-arrival, among other factors, make locales like Thailand and Hong Kong attractive to Indians. With Seychelles commencing direct flight from Mumbai, industry trackers expect it to become a hit for weekend travel.