Airfares, hotel tariffs zoom this Diwali

If you feel like having a quick Diwali getaway, your chances of getting an airline ticket and a hotel room are bleak, reports CNBC-TV18.

It''s the festival of lights, but certainly not the festival of flights. Airfares and hotel tariffs over the Diwali weekend have almost doubled and still they are all sold out. That''s because more Indians are using the long weekend to chill out.

"People want to enjoy holidays and be with family. So they are going more towards destinations rather than visiting relatives and friends," said Lalith Sheth, CMD, Raj Travels.

Travel agents say travel during Diwali this year is up almost 50 per cent. And people don''t mind spending 40 per cent to 50 per cent more that they would on another weekend. Even so, they cannot get reservations at key tourist destinations like Kerala, Rajasthan, Himachal and, of course, Goa.

"All hill stations are packed because we are facing the October heat. People are travelling to Kerala, that is the number one destination for Diwali and no tickets and hotels are available there," said Veena Patil, Director, Kesari Tours.

Travel agents expect this trend to continue through Christmas and the New Year. They say weekend packages are fast becoming very lucrative since people prefer a couple of short holidays a year rather than one long holiday! And with the number of festivals we celebrate, long weekends come at short intervals.