Hyderabad, Texas, Bandung and London among most-booked destinations in 2022, as per OYO

• Varanasi in India, was one of the favourite leisure destinations in 2022, according to OYO. Other destinations were Jaipur, Goa, Kochi and Visakhapatnam.
  
• India witnessed a 44% increase in booking demand during Christmas week (25th December - 31st December) compared to 2021.
  
• About 1 million last-minute bookings were made in Malaysia on OYO.
  

The year 2022 was marked by a renewed vigour for travel, with people finally fulfilling the travel dreams that the pandemic put on hold. And this sentiment is accurately reflected in OYO’s Travelopedia 2022- the hospitality technology platform’s year-end annual global travel trends index.

As per OYO, Hyderabad in India, Luxembourg in Europe, Bandung in Indonesia, Johor Bahru in Malaysia, Texas in the US, and London were the year’s most-booked destinations.

“Remote working offered flexibility to consumers to use their time and explore domestic destinations to make up for their lost vacations. Globally, leisure destinations are leading the travel recovery curve, while in India, we’re seeing business travel also significantly contribute to the sector,” said Shreerang Godbole, global chief service officer, OYO.

Spiritual travel and business trips trend in India

India’s fourth largest and most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, was the most visited state in 2022. Apart from it, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai were the most-booked cities for business travel, while Jaipur, Goa, Kochi, Varanasi and Visakhapatnam topped the charts as favourite leisure destinations in 2022, according to OYO.

Varanasi's ranking in the list of top leisure destinations aligns with the rise in spiritual travel this year. After Varanasi, Tirupati, Puri, Amritsar and Haridwar were the most-booked destinations for pilgrimage on OYO. Interestingly, smaller towns and cities such as Hathras, Srinagar in Uttarakhand, Sasaram, Karaikudi and Tenali saw the highest increase in bookings in 2022 vs 2021, it added.

The festive spirit of Christmas also translated into travel plans, with India witnessing a 44% increase in booking demand during Christmas week (25th December - 31st December) compared to 2021. Destinations such as Goa, Hyderabad, Puri, Manali, and Kolkata emerged as top choices for travellers during this time, stated OYO.

Longs weekend trips and leisure travel dominate globally

OYO also analysed the trends across Europe, the US, the UK, Malaysia and Indonesia, and long weekend trips were common across regions.

The Independence Day (July 1-3) weekend in the US, Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee (June 2-4) in the UK and the Eid-Ul-Fitr weekend (May 7-8) in Indonesia were the most-booked weekends in 2022, as per OYO.

Moreover, between January and December 2022, Europeans booked more vacation homes outside their own country compared to previous years.

Christmas also continued to be a high season across Europe and the UK. This year, the UK observed a 34% uptick in booking demand for Christmas and upcoming New Year's Eve in comparison to 2021, according to OYO.

Though Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu witnessed the highest bookings in Malaysia in 2022, Penang Island and Malacca witnessed the highest YoY growth compared to 2021. Malaysia also saw approximately 1 million last-minute bookings on OYO in 2022.

As per OYO’s booking trends, in Indonesia, Bandung, Bali, Yogyakarta, Malang and Lampung emerged as the top five leisure destinations in 2022. Jakarta, Tangerang, Surabaya, Bekasi and Medan were the top five business destinations in 2022 in Indonesia.

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