NEW DELHI: More and more Indians are choosing to travel for leisure on festive seasons rather than staying at home or simply visiting hometown, according to a Yatra.com survey.
About 67 percent of the 2,700 respondents who took part in the surveys said, they were planning to travel during Durga Puja, leveraging the long weekend. With festivals like Dussehra falling close to the weekend, many are drawing up plans.
Nearly 73 percent said they prefer short getaways from the monotonous city life. Another key finding was that most travellers prefer to travel with families. About 63 per cent said they prefer travelling with family during festivals. About 42 per cent said that they see festive seasons as occasions to head out of the city to explore new destinations and cultures.
Interestingly, although there has been a decline in demand for luxury accommodation post GST, 42 percent of the respondents opted for three or four star category hotels. Only 25 per cent choose budget stay. 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 the most popular destination this festive season, followed by Goa, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Dubai, Singapore and Thailand are the hot international destinations.
Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C) of Yatra.com, said “Indian travellers today are open to discovering new destinations for quick weekend getaways along with traditional sightseeing vacations. Factors like cheaper air fares and low tariffs for budget hotels are increasingly making budget travel an attractive option.”
The survey found that Facebook is the most popular social media platform among travellers. About 83 percent of the respondents said they use Facebook to post vacation updates. However, the rest said that they prefer to stay offline while on a vacation.