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redBus, a MakeMyTrip group company, and the world’s largest intercity bus ticketing platform, estimates a whopping 75 lakh people to undertake intercity bus travel across the country during the long Republic Day weekend, between 25th and 29th January-23.
The intercity bus transport sector continues to witness the growth momentum it has been witnessing in 2022, post the pandemic, especially towards the latter part of the year, where the festive season and year-end holiday period offered high thrust to the segment. Overall travel trends for the Republic Day long weekend indicate that the western region of the country is largely led by leisure driven travel, while south and eastern parts are witnessing the IT cohort taking a break to visit their hometowns and holiday spots and people up north are seeking adventure amid the snow-capped mountains.
In the north, travel between Delhi, Manali, Jaipur, Indore, Bhopal, Lucknow and Chandigarh lead the demand for travel during the long weekend, while down south, the most popular destinations are Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Madurai. The west region is led by Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Nagpur, Indore, Ahmedabad and Rajkot. In the east, routes connecting Kolkata, Durgapur, Asansol, Siliguri, Guwahati, Jorhat and Digha are witnessing maximum demand. In addition to metros and other big cities, tier- 2 cities and towns too are witnessing a strong intent for travel, evident from the high demand from places like, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur, Vijayawada, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Nagpur.
In order to meet the spurt in demand for travel during the Republic Day long weekend, private bus operators across the country have added an additional 1500 services across high demand routes
From a bus travel perspective, Tirupati, unsurprisingly is attracting the highest number of visitors, as a major pilgrimage destination, followed by Shirdi in Maharashtra and Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Beaches as holiday destination continue to attract a lot of visitors during this harsh winter, with Goa and Pondicherry being the most sought-after tourist destinations in the country. People seeking to enjoy adventure in the snowy peaks of the Himalayas are heading towards Manali in Himachal Pradesh, which is also a top tourist hotspot this weekend.
