NEW DELHI: Led by flash sales of airlines, 40 percent travellers during the festive season chose to book travel tickets including air and rail tickets at least 1-3 months in advance from their travel date, says a survey conducted by online travel portal Yatra.com. The survey also found that 67 percent travellers are planning to travel during the festival season, leveraging the long weekends. The survey, which was conducted on 2700 respondents, further stated that with festivals like Diwali and Dussehra closer to the weekend, 73 percent travellers opted to go for short getaways to escape from their monotonous city schedules.
Another key claim of the survey was about Indian travellers preferring to travel with their families during festivals, with 63 percent falling under the category. 42 percent of the respondents said that they are looking at the festive season as a time to head out of the city or the country to explore new destinations and cultures. Observations were also derived from the survey about the kind of accommodation travellers opt for and it also showed that the demand for luxury accommodation post-GST continues to decline. The survey stated that travellers seem to be choosing accommodation wisely, with 42 percent and 25 percent opting for 3-4 star hotels and budget hotels, respectively.
A statement issued by the travel portal said, “Travellers are increasingly travelling for leisure and embarking on domestic travel for shorter trips which are considerably more affordable. Only 22.7 percent respondents said that they would prefer taking an international vacation.” According to the survey, Kerala once again emerged as a popular destination this festive season, followed by Goa, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Dubai, Singapore and Thailand have emerged as the favourite international destinations, the survey said.
Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C) of Yatra.com, said “The discerning Indian travellers are breaking away from the conventional mindset of staying or visiting hometown during the festival, especially if it’s closer to a weekend. Indian travellers today are open to discovering new destinations for quick weekend getaways along with traditional sightseeing vacations. Factors like cheaper airfares and low tariffs for budget hotels are increasingly making budget travel an attractive option.”
The survey also commented upon the social media platform used by travellers to post updates. It said Facebook is the most popular social media platform amongst the travellers as 83 percent of the respondents said they use Facebook to post vacation updates but 33 percent of the respondents said that they are completely off social media during a vacation.