# Agoda, Scapia data show festive travel surge to new destinations 2026-10-14T18:36:35+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Travel booking data from two platforms shows Indian travellers are booking holidays at three to four times last year’s rate during the October-to-December festive season, with interest expanding to lesser-known destinations in India and abroad. Agoda reported that searches for Sri Lanka jumped 262%, Hong Kong 138% and Japan 125%, while within India, Puri saw a 318% rise, Ooty 166% and Munnar 107%. The data, based on accommodation searches from August to September for stays between 15 October and 30 November, also showed Bangkok, Phuket and Tokyo as the most searched international cities. Scapia, a travel fintech platform, reported that bookings for beach and hill stays during Dussehra week each rose 3.5 times year-on-year. Goa bookings increased 4.4 times, while Gokarna recorded an eightfold rise and Varkala and Kollam also gained. Among hill stations, Srinagar, Mussoorie and Manali saw bookings grow six to seven times. Internationally, Thailand led, followed by Vietnam and Singapore, searches for Cambodia increased tenfold. Heritage stay bookings ran at 4.8 times last year’s level, with Ajanta-Ellora up 4.9 times, while safari stay bookings between October and December rose 6.6 times year-on-year. Southeast Asia accounted for more than half of international flight bookings on Scapia. Central Asia is also emerging, with searches for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan reaching new highs. In Europe, searches for the UK, Germany and Czechia grew approximately 4.5 times, while Greece, Portugal, Poland and Denmark also attracted interest. ## Indian Opinion Analysis CNBC-TV18 and Curly Tales both report surging festive travel but draw on different data sets and present contrasting emphases. CNBC-TV18, using Agoda data, leads with the highest percentage jumps in international searches (Sri Lanka 262%, Hong Kong 138%) and domestic searches (Puri 318%), framing the story as a shift to new destinations. Curly Tales, using Scapia data, leads with overall booking multiples (three to four times year-on-year) and provides granular figures for niche categories such as heritage stays (4.8 times), safari stays (6.6 times) and island holidays (fivefold). The outlets agree that Southeast Asia dominates international travel and that domestic destinations beyond Goa are gaining. The coverage is uniform in its neutral, data-driven reporting, neither outlet adopts a political or critical stance. The Scapia data extends to Diwali and Christmas-New Year bookings, while Agoda’s data cuts off at 30 November, leaving December trends open. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - cnbctv18.com (neutral report) Data-driven report with no editorialising - curlytales.com (neutral report) Straight reporting of booking multiples and trends This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Agoda, Goa, Puri, Scapia, Southeast Asia, Thailand Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/agoda-scapia-data-show-festive-travel-surge-to-new-destinations/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/agoda-scapia-data-show-festive-travel-surge-to-new-destinations/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/