'Varanasi overtaking Goa': OYO's Ritesh Agarwal gives a sneak peek into biz on New Year's eve

Different people have different preferences when it comes to the place they want to travel to and celebrate the start of the new year. While some prefer to visit beaches, many people favor hill towns. Some people chose to visit religious cities like Varanasi which saw a surge in hotel bookings. According to OYO founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal, Varanasi has surpassed Goa in terms of hotel booking.

"Bookings from Goa are rising by the hour. But guess the city that is overtaking Goa? Varanasi. PS: We are nearly sold out across 700+ cities globally," said Agarwal.

It should be noted that since the start of the new year, tourist locations all over India have reported an increase in visitors. People defied the Covid scare and flocked to well-known locations like Shimla, Goa, Agra, and Varanasi.

Agarwal said that more than 450k+ bookings were made on this New Year's Eve globally which is 35% more than last year.

“We are also seeing the highest bookings per hotel per day for India in the last 5 years today,” he tweeted.

He showed how people are enthusiastic about enjoying a new year celebration. "Today, the price changes on our app have gone up to 12.7 mn times. The magic of New Year’s weekend! 🙌🏻"

In the past year, Varanasi, a well-liked tourist destination, has seen two major events: the first was the Kashi Tamil Sangam, which was held last month, and the second was PM Narendra Modi's inauguration of a renovated temple complex in December of last year. In order to promote Varanasi's tourism potential, both events were crucial.