In a bid to help cricket fans make suitable travel choices for the IPL 2026 season, travel platform Skyscanner launched ‘Hotline to SKY’—a travel helpline featuring pre‑recorded tips voiced by cricketer and brand ambassador Suryakumar ‘SKY’ Yadav.
Designed to help fans navigate match‑day travel, the hotline invites callers to access quick, practical guidance on planning their journeys. In eight days, the activation logged over 3000 calls, underlining how live sport is increasingly shaping domestic travel decisions.
According to Skyscanner data, 35% of callers tuned in specifically for last‑minute travel planning tips, navigating sudden schedule changes and high‑demand routes, while 31% of callers were interested to learn about longer itinerary planning and budget-friendly ways to travel.
Fans didn’t just call for logistics. Nearly 1 in 7 callers dialled in for a quick ‘vibe check’ with SKY, adding a personal, mood‑driven layer to the experience. Many also stayed on to hear SKY’s personal reflections on match‑day energy, pressure and preparation. When asked about his favourite travel memory, SKY said “My favourite memories are when you see fans coming from another city, wearing their team’s jersey, full of belief. As a player, that energy hits different. That’s when you realise cricket is more than a game — it’s pure emotion.”
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SKY‑led social media reels extended the hotline’s impact, translating match‑day curiosity into practical travel planning considerations for fans. The campaign reached nearly 20 million people via outdoor billboards across Delhi and Mumbai, and over 1 million through social engagements across channels.
Commenting on the campaign, Neel Ghose, Skyscanner Travel Trends and Destinations Expert said, “With cricket‑led travel now firmly established, we wanted to focus on making the planning itself simpler and smarter. By bringing Skyscanner’s tools — like Nearby Airports and Explore Everywhere — into an easy, conversational format through SKY, we’ve helped fans move quickly from curiosity to action. The response shows that people aren’t just asking ‘Should I go?’ but ‘How do I make this trip work?’—and that’s exactly the gap this campaign set out to address.”
