1 week ago
Saturday Holiday Redirects Travel and Entertainment Spending Closer to Home
A holiday on Friday gives people three days to travel.
Many people then take flights and go on longer vacations.
In 2025, flight and hotel bookings rose when Independence Day created this kind of weekend.
But a holiday on Saturday does not always give people an extra day off.
Instead of canceling all plans, people may take shorter trips by car.
Others may stay in their city and book hotels, eat out, or watch movies.
Hotel bookings in Indian cities were still strong even when longer trips became less convenient.
Movie theaters also reported strong advance bookings for the holiday period.
This shows that people may spend less time traveling far away, but they can still spend money on leisure close to home.
A Friday Independence Day holiday in 2025 created a three-day weekend and lifted leisure flight bookings by 25% to 30% year on year, according to ixigo.
EaseMyTrip reported hotel bookings up about 35% year on year, with demand concentrated in destinations including Goa, Udaipur, Kerala, and Kashmir.
When a holiday falls on Saturday without a compensatory day off, travellers favor shorter drive-to breaks in places such as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Coorg, and Pondicherry.
IHG Hotels & Resorts said bookings across its India portfolio were tracking 16% to 20% higher year on year, led by metropolitan hotels and shorter booking windows.
PVR INOX Ltd. reported strong advance sales and expected full houses, indicating that cinemas and other urban entertainment can capture spending that would otherwise fund longer trips.
- Who
- Indian leisure travellers, hotels, travel companies, and cinema operators, including ixigo, EaseMyTrip, IHG Hotels & Resorts, and PVR INOX Ltd.
- What
- Holiday timing shifted discretionary spending from long-distance flights and resort trips toward drive-to breaks, city hotels, and in-city entertainment.
- Where
- Across India, with demand reported in metropolitan markets, drive-to destinations, and leisure locations including Goa, Kerala, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh.
- When
- The comparison includes the 2025 Independence Day Friday holiday and a Saturday-holiday scenario without a compensatory day off.
- Why
- A Saturday holiday removes the automatic three-day travel window, encouraging shorter booking windows, local stays, and nearby leisure activities.
Key facts
- Flight bookings during 2025 Friday holiday
- ixigo recorded a 25% to 30% year-on-year increase in leisure flight bookings.
- Goa flight demand
- ixigo reported a more than 100% week-on-week surge in demand for Goa.
- Hotel bookings
- EaseMyTrip recorded an approximate 35% year-on-year increase in hotel bookings.
- IHG India bookings
- IHG Hotels & Resorts reported bookings tracking 16% to 20% higher year on year across its India portfolio.
- Strong IHG markets
- New Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Gurugram were among IHG's strongest-performing markets.
- Travel pattern
- Saturday holidays favored shorter, flexible drive-to trips and compressed booking windows.
- Cinema demand
- PVR INOX Ltd. reported strong advance sales and expected full houses across its circuit for Independence Day.
Quotes
Rikant Pittie
CEO and co-founder of EaseMyTrip
“The absence of a conventional long weekend could encourage travellers to opt for shorter, more flexible getaways rather than defer travel altogether. The key shift we are seeing is that the calendar is becoming less of a prerequisite for travel.”
CNBC TV 18
“We witnessed strong momentum heading into the Independence Day weekend, with advance sales trends indicating full houses on Independence Day across our circuit.”
CNBC TV 18
Sources
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