Preeja Prasad By Express News Service BENGALURU : Long weekends have come to be synonymous with travel, and with the Independence Day falling on Thursday, Bengalureans once again grabbed the opportunity to head out of the city. Interestingly, several travellers from Bengaluru used the occasion to enjoy a great mid-year getaway of 5-7 days by converting the long weekend into a week-long vacation, with many people even taking quick international trips. “Our teams in Bengaluru have been observing a significant surge in demand for long/extended weekend getaways. With multiple holidays for Eid, Independence Day and Parsi New Year this year, we witnessed a surge in demand by over 30 per cent for both domestic and international destinations, specifically from Bengaluru,” Rajeev Kale, president and country head, Thomas Cook, said, adding that quick weekend getaways are increasingly gaining popularity among new-age travellers. “Bengalureans are looking for micro-breaks by opting for domestic destinations such as Udaipur, Goa and Andamans,” Kale said. Add in a couple of more days, and a holiday in hill stations like Mussoorie or Shimla becomes an attraction.A strong demand was also seen for short-haul international destinations, such as Thailand, Singapore, Dubai, Maldives and Indonesia, said Kale. Travel and holidays have become almost a routine for many Bengalureans, and the recent weather challenges did not hold them back either. According to data from Ola Outstation, several on-demand trips were made during the I-Day weekend. The cab aggregator said outstation taxis covered over 10,000 destinations across the country, travelling over 1.1 crore km. About 60 per cent users were from Bengaluru, which emerged among the top three metropolitan cities, behind Delhi (74 per cent) and Mumbai (66 per cent). Mysuru, Nandi Hills, Puducherry, Chennai and Ooty surfaced as the top five destinations from Bengaluru, while people looking for offbeat destinations visited placed like Kolar Gold Fields, Shivaganga and Mayaganahalli. Heritage destinations were the choice of 27 per cent people, followed by hill stations, with 21 per cent, the company said. “With ‘Ride Now’ requests as well as scheduled rides, customers go for their last-minute plans and planned vacations,” an Ola spokesperson told CE.

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