Survey reveals North-East India as preferred destination for holiday goers this festive season

New Delhi, 15 October 2019: Yatra.com, one of India’s leading online travel portals, conducted its annual festive survey highlighting travel trends being followed by Indians across regions, this festive season. The survey results from 5000 respondents reveals that over 25% individuals are keen on exploring the north eastern states of India when compared to famous destinations such as Goa, Andamans, Himachal Pradesh, to break away from the conventional monotony of city life this festive season.

There is always an uptick in demand for travel during festive season as individuals from different locations look forward to a budget friendly trip to domestic and international destinations or even visit their hometowns to spend time with their loved ones. This time, the survey reveals a growing demand for short haul trip to domestic destinations as a preferred choice for over 40% of individuals when asked to choose between international, religious destinations or hometowns.

Led by airline flash sales, the trend of booking in advance continues to be on rise with a whopping 52% respondents booking at least 1-3months in advance from their travel date. Over 30% respondents said choose 3-4-star hotels as accommodations over budget hotels, a rise in demand post government announcement for relaxation on GST rates. There has also been an increase in the number of travelers willing to go for homestays and cottages as compared to data received in the survey conducted last year. While choosing accommodation, about 36.8% of them look for cleanliness of rooms and hotel hygiene, while 25.3% of them consider customer service to be an important element.

Another key observation derived out of the survey is that about 52% individuals prefer traveling with their families while 34% opt for their partners/spouses while booking their travel during festive season.

Commenting on the findings from the survey, Mr. Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com, “Over the last couple of years, we have witnessed a good mix of travellers choosing to visit their hometown or opting for a short trip to various destinations during festive breaks. The trend for short trips of 3-5 days has picked up, wherein travellers look for a budget trip, inclusive of activities such as sightseeing and shopping. We also see an increase in demand for accommodation with proximity to key tourist spots, showing a rise in experiential travel. Most of the airlines and hotels announce sales and offer festive discounts a few weeks prior to the festive season to tap into this growth in demand and this year has seen the same trend continue.”

The data from festive survey suggests that about 45% of people, go for the recommendations suggested by their friends while making their travel plans and about 43.8% go for online reviews of their preferred destinations. Also, interestingly for over 35% of individuals, Kaju Barfi is the favoured variety of sweet during this festive season.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

–          This festive season, 61% individuals are planning to take up a vacation, while 42% choose Indigo as their preferred domestic airline and 60.8% want to opt for window seat. The source of entertainment in flight is music for 34% individuals, over 22% who choose books and 32% who prefer watching movies

–          Facebook is the most popular social media platform amongst the travellers, where 33% like to share an update on their account, and 52.9% keep away from all platforms during holidays

–          For their festive travel, about 30% of travellers keep aside a budget of Rs. 10,000 – 25,000 per person and consider accommodation worth Rs. 1,000 – 2,500 per night

–          Over 80% of individuals do not opt for packages while making bookings for their travel

–          International destinations that have become preferred choice of travellers are Thailand/Malaysia/Singapore for 17.5% of respondents; Bali for 17.5% of respondents ; Europe for 17.5% of respondents ; Maldives for 12.5% of respondents; United States of America for 12.5% of respondents and United Kingdom for 10% of respondents