Strong demand for cultural and spiritual hubs is expected for destinations like Varanasi, Kolkata during Durga Puja and Pushkar for the camel fair, besides leisure destinations like Goa, Udaipur, Jaipur and Coorg.
Unprecedented rainfall in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand has destroyed infrastructure and caused flooding and landslides in many areas in North India, primarily Jammu, adversely impacting residents and tourists.
This has prompted state governments to issue advisories cautioning against travel to affected areas.
Hotel owners and hospitality executives said the industry was staring at a potential wipeout of the gains they were to make during the initial days of the festival season starting September, as prediction of heavy rainfall continuing for the coming days or weeks has prompted travellers to venture elsewhere.
"There is no connectivity in the city, especially in Old Manali. The Manali highway has also been severely damaged, impacting travel connectivity. In such a scenario, we have suspended bookings at the property for at least 15 to 20 days until roads can be mended," said Saurabh Bhandari, marketing manager at the Nirvana Hamta Retreat in Sethan, Manali.
Bhandari further said they expected to clock a revenue of just Rs 1 lakh in September.
Rajiv Mehra, general secretary of the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH), said, "The travel sentiment was strong, keeping in mind the recent Independence Day long weekend, but the monsoon is not the best time to visit states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand."
Several travellers have been forced to tweak their itineraries midway.
Inderjeet Gambhir, a 68-year-old homemaker from Delhi, was diverted to Siliguri on August 20 due to landslides and heavy rainfall.
She was supposed to travel to Darjeeling from Gangtok.
Simrran Gill, a 28-year-old writer from Delhi, also had to cancel her trip to Dehradun.
"We had planned to visit the city during the Independence Day weekend, but the Airbnb host cautioned us about visiting the mountains during such heavy rains, and we ultimately decided to not travel," she said.
Ojus Khurrana, a 29-year-old consultant from Delhi, who was planning to travel to Manali, has now flown to Puducherry for a small break.
This year, the monsoon has not just been heavy, but arrived earlier too, impacting the June quarter this year, said a recent report by HVS Anarock.
According to the Meteorological Department, regions like Leh have received 300 per cent surplus rains this season so far.
A senior hotel executive, who did not want to be named, said that while some travellers and hotels in North India are currently cautious due to floods, it is not expected to impact bookings for the festival period, especially around Diwali.
Arjun Baljee, president, Royal Orchid Hotels, said the current flood situation is localised to specific regions.
Alternative tourism spots could potentially fill the void, Baljee added, so that the whole industry continues to observe an upwards trajectory in the coming months.
The upside for the industry may come from the rest of the festival season going up till December-end, emanating from a combination of weekend getaways, weddings and live events from global performers.
Industry executives are expecting a rise in room rates of up to 10 per cent on a year-on-year basis, with some like EaseMyTrip expecting occupancy rate of premium hotel brands to be around 70 to 75 per cent from September to December.
The average room rates (ARR) may climb to around Rs 8,000 to Rs 8,500 on the back of preference for premium stays.
"The August long weekends gave us an early glimpse, with airfares and hotel rates in places like Goa surging and platforms reporting around a 30 per cent rise in bookings compared to last year," said Rikant Pittie, chief executive officer and cofounder, EaseMyTrip.
"This demand usually carries into the September to December festive corridor," he added.
Strong demand for cultural and spiritual hubs is expected for destinations like Varanasi, Kolkata during Durga Puja, and Pushkar for the camel fair, besides leisure destinations like Goa, Udaipur, Jaipur and Coorg.
A strong preference for short-haul and visa-friendly destinations like Dubai, Bali, and Sri Lanka is also on the rise.
Occupancies across most ITC Hotels in key metros and leading leisure destinations are trending higher than last year, said Anil Chadha, managing director, ITC Hotels.
"The momentum (in advance bookings) is widespread but led strongly by our hotels in metro cities such as ITC Maurya in Delhi, ITC Maratha, and ITC Grand Central in Mumbai, ITC Gardenia and ITC Windsor in Bengaluru, and ITC Kohenur in Hyderabad," he said.
Rayan Aranha, vice-president, Brigade Hotel Ventures, said in the October to December window, the industry is likely to witness an increase in room rates of about 10 to 11 per cent, with occupancies rising by four to five per cent on a Y-o-Y basis, in markets like Bengaluru and Chennai.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
© 2025