More Indians are taking trips to international destinations, with a 32% growth in people taking two or more trips in a year, said travel major MakeMyTrip in a report that analyzed data between June 2023 and May 2024. The growth is even higher at 37% for Indian travellers who are taking three or more international trips in a year.
While cities such as Bangkok and Dubai remained the most travelled overseas destinations for Indians this year, there has been a meteoric rise in newer places such as Baku (Azerbaijan) and Almaty (Kazakhstan). As per the report titled ‘How India Travels Abroad’, travel-related searches for Almaty and Baku grew by 527% and 395% respectively this year. The other top emerging destinations are Hong Kong, Colombo and Tokyo.
The top ten most searched countries, led by UAE and Thailand, this year remain the same as 2023, contributing to 64% of all international searches on the platform. The two Asian nations accounted for 31% of total searches. Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi lead the charts for international travel searches.
“There has been a 70% increase in the combined search volume for the top 10 emerging destinations...The overall contribution of searches for emerging destinations on our platform has increased from 10% to 14%, indicating that Indians are exploring newer global destinations,” said MakeMyTrip.
The report also stated that international travel search volumes remain relatively steady across all seasons, with December being the most active month for international travel searches.
Further, interest in luxury travel is rising among Indians, with a 10% growth in searches for business-class flights in the international segment. Indians are also on the lookout for pocket-friendly experiences as close to 50% of international hotel bookings fall in the above Rs 7,000 per night tariff bracket.
Fifty-five per cent of all trips to international destinations are for leisure, followed by 33% for visiting friends and relatives. Thailand is the favourite leisure destination for Indians. An impressive 44% of international travellers from West Bengal chose Thailand as their overseas destination. The UAE, Europe, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam are the other top leisure destinations for Indian travellers.
“With rising disposable incomes, greater exposure to global cultures, and the increasing ease of travel, more Indians are exploring both domestic and international destinations for leisure as well as business,” said Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip.