As Delhi witnessed one of the most polluted Novembers in recent years, with the average Air Quality Index (AQI) nearing 500 this week, many people are headed out of the city to escape the toxic air.
Amid the plummeting air quality, which dipped to the “severe-plus” category in the past few days, the Delhi government ordered half of its employees to work from home and urged the private sector to follow suit. The government also implemented curbs under Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the Capital to tackle the situation.
Chirag Goyal, Co-founder, Holiday Tribe, said they have witnessed a 15 per cent increase in demand for holidays from Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) over the last month. “With the upcoming holiday season, there is an organic increase in holiday planning and bookings. We have witnessed a 15 per cent increase in demand for holidays from Delhi-NCR over the last month, with travellers seeking destinations in the hills such as Nainital, Uttarakhand, and Darjeeling within India, and international destinations such as Bali, Singapore, and Thailand,” said Goyal.
“This increase in demand could perhaps be attributed to flexi-working and online schooling being extended across Delhi-NCR,” said the co-founder of the travel-tech company based in Gurgaon. “The impact on foreign tourists coming into the country isn’t as significant; as travel plans are made ahead of time and last minute change of plans due to environmental factors are tough to make,” he added.
Sriharan Thanabalan, Managing Director, Madura Travel Service, told The Indian Express that “relatively fewer people want to go to Delhi right now”. “I think that they want to avoid the pollution. They prefer Kerala or Tamil Nadu for travel,” added Thanabalan of Chennai-based travel agency.
“There was a surge in the number of people travelling out of Delhi. But this was similar to the surge seen last year during this month as well,” said an executive of another travel agency.
