Indians pick beaches over hills for Diwali holidays

Instead of celebrating the festival traditionally at home, Indians are preferring beaches over mountains during Diwali holidays, a new report from a hotel chain revealed recently.

The booking data for the Diwali week, October 25 to October 31, 2019, shows people are heading to the land of beaches, Goa, this year followed by metro cities Delhi and Bengaluru.

Most bookings for Goa have come from Pune, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.

"With the festive season around the corner, we are witnessing consumers stepping out of the city for a memorable time with loved ones whether it"s Goa or neighbouring towns," said representatives of the hotel chain.

"Moreover, with consumer focused brands running creative campaigns and offering attractive services at great discounts during this time, we see a significant increase in bookings within the hospitality and tourism industry," they added.

Indians are preferring beaches over mountains this year with most bookings witnessed for Goa, Mumbai, Puducherry and Visakhapatnam over scenic beauties like Ooty, Lonavala, Mussoorie, Nainital, Manali, Darjeeling, Mount-Abu, the report said.

Delhi and Bengaluru witnessed most bookings from within the city showcasing how people are opting to relax this Diwali week.

The report added that most Delhiites booked for Amritsar, Jaipur and Lucknow whereas Mumbaikars plan to visit Pune, Mahabaleshwar and Lonavala, the report said.

People from Bengaluru, on the other hand, are planning for Mysore, Ooty, Mangalore, Kochi and Puducherry.

According to the report, The company also saw maximum bookings by couples for the Diwali period closely followed by family outings.