India's smaller cities recorded highest growth in hotel bookings in 2022: OYO    

OYO Travelopedia 2022: Small towns in India like Hathras, Sasaram, Karaikudi, and Tenali experienced the highest annual growth in hotel bookings in 2022, according to hospitality and travel-tech company OYO.

OYO's Travelopedia 2022 revealed that Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Chennai emerged as the most popular cities in India for business travel as a result of the pandemic's significant positive impact on travel.

"Uttar Pradesh became the most visited state in 2022. Smaller towns and cities such as Hathras (Uttar Pradesh), Srinagar in Uttarakhand, Sasaram (Bihar), Karaikudi (Tamil Nadu), and Tenali (Andhra Pradesh) observed the highest increase in bookings in 2022 versus 2021. June 4, 2022, was the most booked day in 2022," OYO said in a statement citing its data.

While the top cities for business travel are Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Chennai, OYO reported that the top cities for leisure travel in 2022 are Jaipur, Goa, Kochi, Varanasi, and Visakhapatnam.

 "Varanasi became the most booked destination for pilgrimage followed by Tirupati, Puri, Amritsar, and Haridwar. June 3-5, 2022 recorded the maximum bookings in comparison to any other long weekend this year," it added.

 According to OYO, the Luxembourg region of Belgium has become Europe's top travel destination, and Danish residents make up the majority of reservations made on the platforms for the OYO Vacation Homes brand.

Texas was the most traveled-to-state in the US in 2022. London, Plymouth, Middlesbrough, Leicester, and Brighton were the most popular vacation spots in the UK in 2022.

According to OYO Travelopedia 2022, a traveller from the US made a single booking for 339 days in 2022, while a customer booked a roughly 105-day stay in Denmark for the longest stay in Europe.

 According to Shreerang Godbole, chief service officer of OYO Global, 2022 was a year filled with fervour and travel recovered quickly.

 "This year, we observed that travellers wanted to make the most of their holidays, and extended long weekends. Remote working offered flexibility to consumers to use their time and explore domestic destinations to make up for their lost vacations," he said.

Godbole further said, "Globally, leisure destinations are leading the travel recovery curve, while in India, we're seeing business travel also significantly contribute to the sector".

In 2022, OYO claimed that its users had made over 8 million "super quick" reservations in under 5 minutes and that its chatbot "YoChat" had answered 13 million inquiries.