Travellers Keen On Exploring ‘Unexplored India’ This Summer
In addition to India beating global destinations on the travel journals of customers this season, the shift in the mind-set of Indian travellers was also mapped. Interestingly, budget travel emerged as the most popular choice with close to 45% of respondents willing to spend only INR 10K-25K on their holiday, and 43% of them indicating a preference to spare only INR 1000-2500 per night on hotel accommodation. With pockets determining the itinerary, budget options like homestays have become a hero choice for close to 15% of the respondents.
Budget travel make room for more frequent holidays leading to about 47% of travellers saying they take 2-4 holidays a year, while 40% said that 1-2 holidays is what they take. Keen to explore India, close to 64% of respondents prefer domestic destinations while travelling and 66% mentioned that while travelling they seek to experience different cultures and ways of life as a means to recuperate from their hectic urban lives when they travel.
Commenting on the findings from the survey, Mr. Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com says, “Indian travellers are increasingly realizing that there is tremendous beauty in the unexplored parts of India. This is certainly an exciting new trend that seems to be picking up, and while conventional holiday destinations, both domestic and international still attract tourists, these unexplored and less visited destinations are the flavour of the season.”
The survey also deep delved into specific accommodation and social media preferences of travellers such as:
· 36% of travellers prefer chain hotels, however, their main criteria to choose the accommodation is its proximity to popular tourist spots with 53% individuals clearly stating the same
· The favourite pastime of individuals on vacation is to laze in the hotel room (32%) or chill in the pool (30%)
· For 69% of the people, cleanliness of rooms is the most important element of a good hotel experience
· Indians also claim to be good tippers with 50% of the travelers tipping for room service and 32% tipping the porter for carrying their luggage
· While finalizing the accommodation option, 74% of the respondents relied on online reviews
· 55% of the consumers are active on social media at least once or twice a day, during vacation with Facebook (50%) being the most preferred channel followed by Instagram (32.8%)
The survey, done amongst 5100 respondents, has also revealed that 43% of people book more than 15 days in advance while 40% book a minimum of 3 months in advance. 70% of respondents book flightsbefore booking their hotels to get best deals on their travel. 75% of people prefer window seats and 72% do a web check-in to get their preferred seat option. 45% of flyers purchased travel insurance while booking flight tickets via OTAs.
Top Destinations- Domestic
· Ladakh
· Goa
· Dharamshala
· Auli
· Munnar
· Kanatal
Top Destinations- International
· Europe
· Bali
· USA
