Ahead of Ganesha Chaturthi, travel demand between Bengaluru and Hyderabad has spiked, making the buses on the route the most sought after in the entire country, private bus aggregator redBus said on Wednesday.
The company said on Wednesday that it expects more than 7 lakh seats to be booked during the festival season. Unlike last year, when bookings peaked five days ahead of the festival, the demand increased 10 days before Ganesha Chaturthi "indicating greater intent and certainty of travel", redBus said in a release.
Within Karnataka, bus services from Bengaluru to Vijayapura and Belagavi are in high demand. "About 63% of the overall bookings are projected to come from tier-2 and tier-3 cities and towns, signifying increased penetration and digitisation across India," the company said.
Bengaluru-Hyderabad has emerged top route among the interstate services, thanks to the relaxation of the rules for interstate travel. Opening up of the borders between states that witness high bus travel -- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana -- has come as a major booster. "The passage between Kerala and Karnataka is still awaited," it added.
Based on its booking data, the company said the top 5 states where it was witnessing high demand for travel during Ganesh Chaturthi were, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka.
More than 2500 private bus operators and 21 State Regional Transport Corporations were gearing up to cater to the demand by running around 42,000 services on 53,600 routes.
The company estimates that 54% of the current bookings are for travel within states and the remaining 46% for interstate travel. 73% of the current bookings have been made on Air-Conditioned buses.
Prakash Sangam, chief executive officer of redBus, stated, “If we don’t witness a significant third wave, we expect to reach pre-Covid levels of activity on our platform by early next year. At the moment, Ganesh Chaturthi is helping revive demand for intercity travel which is welcome news for our industry “
Check out DH's latest videos here: