Brands
Agoda flags Goa and Dubai as Republic Day long-weekend favourites
INDIA: Goa and Dubai have emerged as the most searched destinations for India’s Republic Day long weekend, according to Agoda, as travellers lock in plans for the January 23–26 break. Data from the online travel platform shows domestic accommodation searches more than doubled year on year, rising 115 per cent, while outbound searches climbed 63 per cent, underlining strong appetite for short, early-year getaways.
Goa topped domestic search rankings, followed by Pondicherry, which recorded a sharp 211 per cent rise in interest, and Udaipur, up 148 per cent. Among the top ten destinations, Varkala and Ooty posted the fastest growth at 188 per cent and 182 per cent respectively, while Jaipur and Varanasi also saw solid increases of 154 per cent and 142 per cent.
Internationally, Dubai led search interest for the long weekend, with year-on-year growth of about 84 per cent, followed by Phuket and Bangkok at 77 per cent and 56 per cent. Phu Quoc Island emerged as the fastest-growing overseas destination, recording more than an eleven-fold jump in searches, while Krabi rose 163 per cent and Ho Chi Minh City nearly doubled at 99 per cent.
Commenting on the trend, country director Gaurav Malik, Indian subcontinent and Indian Ocean islands at Agoda, said long-weekend travel is becoming more deliberate, with travellers blending domestic trips and nearby international destinations suited to short breaks. Agoda said it is supporting demand with value-led deals across accommodation, flights and activities, including discounts under its upcoming mega sale in February.
Brands
Dunkin’ Donuts to exit India as Jubilant FoodWorks ends 15-year franchise deal
The quick service restaurant giant is ending a 15-year franchise partnership with the American doughnut chain, even as it renews its Domino’s agreement for another 15 years
NOIDA: Dunkin’ is done in India. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the country’s leading quick service restaurant operator, has decided not to renew its franchise agreement with the American coffee and doughnut chain, and will wind down its Indian stores in a phased manner before December 31, 2026, bringing a 15-year partnership to a quiet, loss-laden close.
The decision, approved by JFL’s board on March 30, 2026, ends a relationship that began with a Multiple Unit Development Franchise Agreement signed on February 24, 2011. JFL will now evaluate and undertake what it described in a regulatory filing as the “rationalisation and/or cessation of certain operations and/or sale, transfer or disposal of assets and/or assignment or transfer of franchise rights,” all in consultation with Dunkin’s brand owners and strictly within the terms of the original agreement.
The numbers tell the story bluntly. In the financial year 2024-25, Dunkin’ India posted a revenue of Rs 37 crore against a loss of Rs 19 crore — a haemorrhage that was always going to test the patience of a parent company recording revenues of Rs 6,104 crore and a profit of Rs 194 crore in the same period. Doughnuts, it turns out, were never going to move the needle.
The contrast with JFL’s handling of its other marquee franchise could hardly be sharper. Even as it walks away from Dunkin’, the company has just doubled down on Domino’s, signing a fresh Master Franchise Agreement on March 31, 2026, granting it exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza stores in India for 15 years, with an option to renew for a further 10.
JFL, incorporated in 1995 and promoted by the Bharatia family, operates a network of more than 3,500 stores across six markets — India, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Its portfolio includes Domino’s and Popeyes on the global side, and two home-grown brands: Hong’s Kitchen and COFFY, a café brand in Turkey.
For Dunkin’, India was always a stretch. The brand never quite cracked the cultural code in a market where filter coffee and chai command fierce loyalty and where the doughnut remains, at best, an occasional indulgence rather than a daily habit. Fifteen years, mounting losses and a parent with better things to spend its capital on was always going to be a difficult equation to solve.
The doughnut has had its last day. The pizza, however, is staying.
