Most Indians want to travel during festive holidays: Survey

Mumbai: With the festive season at its peak, 73 per cent travellers find this time as the perfect opportunity to skip the monotonous city life and indulge in short getaways, a survey showed.

"The discerning Indian travellers are breaking away from the conventional mindset of staying or visiting hometown during festivals, especially if it is closer to a weekend," Yatra.Com COO (B2C) Sharat Dhall said.

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, Dhall said.

Yatra.Com has conducted the survey among 2,700 respondents in the country.

With Diwali and Dusshera falling closer to the weekend, 73 per cent respondents said they find it as a perfect opportunity to escape from their monotonous city life and indulge in short getaways.

Led by airline flash sales, the trend of booking in advance continued to be on rise with a whopping 40 per cent respondents booking at least one to three months in advance from their travel date, the survey report said.

It revealed that travellers are choosing accommodation wisely, with 42 per cent and 25 per cent opting for 3-4 star hotel, and budget hotels, respectively.

This clearly reflects the continued lukewarm demand for luxury accommodation post the Good and Services Tax (GST), it said.

Travellers are increasingly travelling for leisure and embarking on domestic travel for shorter trips which are considerably more affordable.

Only 22.7 per cent respondents said they would prefer taking an international vacation, the survey said.

The survey also found that 63 per cent Indian travellers prefer travelling with families during festivals.

About 42 per cent of the respondents said they are looking at the festive season as a time to head out of the city or country to explore new destinations and cultures, it said.

Kerala has emerged as a popular destination this festive season, followed by Goa, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, while Dubai, Singapore and Thailand have emerged as favourite international destinations.