Villa companies set to greet a happy holiday season

With most firms resuming work from office, many people have changed their holidaying patterns

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from 21 December to 5 January. Generally, for most businesses, rates are 50-60% higher than normal weekend holiday rates.

"Over last year to this year, there has been a nominal increment of 8% in terms of the average rates charged," said Amit Damani, co-founder of StayVista.

The same level of growth may not be there for villa rental companies in hill stations, although the snow could attract travellers. This year, demand is soft for hill station destinations in north India because many travellers tend to finalize their trips as close to the planned holiday dates as possible due to erratic weather.

"We expect that by 18-19 December, there will be a big pick-up in demand for the hills as people will want to hit the road for their New Year plans. That's when travellers will expect a more certain experience and won't want to be stranded," said Parulekar.