With an extended weekend thanks to the Dasara festival, many have made the best use of it with travel plans. As this is the second long weekend within a month, many are also preferring to have shorter vacations this time. Many hotels across the State have witnessed over 90% occupancy this weekend.
“This time, we are witnessing a significant surge in room occupancy across Bengaluru,” said P.C. Rao, president, Bruhat Bengaluru Hoteliers’ Association. “Hotels are nearly completely booked due to the surge in demand for accommodations. This pattern is widespread throughout Karnataka and is not exclusive to Bengaluru. The Dasara Festival is the main cause of this flood of tourists,” he added.
Many youngsters are also using the long weekend to go on adventure excursions. Nagendra Nayak, who has organised a bike trip with his friends, said, “I’m organising a last-minute bike ride to Gokarna with several friends. It was an unexpected idea given the weekend and the additional holiday on Monday.”
Surjith P.S, who just started a job in Bengaluru, said, “We cannot go too far because everyone just has a small window of time—two to three days. We have made the decision to travel to Virajapet in Kodagu, where one of my friends lives. We intend to go on a trekking expedition and see some of the nearby landmarks”.
Others find that weekends are the ideal time to travel and experience diverse cultures, with many travelling to Mysuru for the Dasara festivities. Bengaluru resident Akash Biswa stated his eagerness to attend the Dasara festival in person. “I’m from West Bengal, but I have never had the opportunity to attend a live Dasara festival. Although I have viewed a lot of videos online and on TV, this time my family and I are travelling briefly to Mysuru to look into and take part in the festival,” he said.
However, some are also disappointed with the surge pricing of both buses and hotels owing to the higher demand. “Bus tickets to Goa cost around ₹6,000 for two persons and the hotel prices are almost double everywhere. Hence, I dropped my travel plans,” said Samiksha N., an engineer from Basavanagudi.
