redBus nudges travellers to look closer to home with Discover Bharat Sale

redBus has rolled out the Discover Bharat Sale, a nationwide campaign encouraging travellers to explore destinations within India during the current festive and holiday travel window. The sale offers bus tickets starting at Rs 299 per seat, along with discounts of up to 50 percent across buses, trains and hotels.

The initiative is timed around increased travel linked to the harvest festival season, the Magh Mela period and the Republic Day long weekend. The campaign is built around a regionification-led approach, using local languages, cultural references and everyday travel conversations to reflect how people across India discover destinations.

The campaign is running on television and digital platforms including JioHotstar, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

The first route, titled Pata Karke Aao, is set in familiar, everyday environments such as bus stands, tea stalls, residential societies and hostels. Characters speak directly to the camera in regional languages, sharing small, local details about destinations before linking the moment to the fare-led offer. The films combine live-action performances with AI-generated animation backgrounds rendered on LED screens.

The second route, Bharat Mein Videshi, uses visual reveals to compare international destinations with Indian locations. Each film opens with visuals resembling popular global tourist spots before revealing Indian settings such as Shimla, Jaisalmer, Coorg, Pondicherry and Bodh Gaya. These films are designed primarily for mobile-first social media viewing.

Commenting on the campaign, Pallavi Chopra, chief marketing officer, redBus said: “This is a period when people across the country are planning trips, travelling to visit family to celebrate festivals, and making the most of long-weekend breaks. With the Discover Bharat Sale, we’re tapping into this travel momentum to highlight the many experiences India has to offer, especially when seen through local and regional lenses. Our regionification-led approach allows us to reflect travel in a way that feels familiar and authentic, shaped by language, culture, and everyday context. The sale brings together offers across buses, trains, and hotels to support travel plans during this period.”