The world has started to emerge from strict border closures and Indians are eager to hit the roads and the skies for a trip. The month of August officially marks the beginning of the festive season and this year Indian travellers are blessed with extended long weekends in the month of August, enabling them to plan longer holidays.
As per the recent APAC Travel Confidence Index Report by Booking.com, 86 per cent of Indian travellers stated that they intend to travel in the next 12 months. And despite some Covid-19 restrictions, travel optimism continues to remain high with 70 per cent of Indian travellers accepting of anticipated travel disruptions and 78 per cent considering leisure travel as important while keeping their overall health and safety in mind. Keeping the optimism of Indian travellers in mind and further delving into the travel behaviour of Indians for the period of August 1- August 31, 2022, Booking.com, the digital travel leader connecting travellers with the widest choice of unique places to stay, today shared key booking trends for India as the festive season commences.
Domestic travel trends
Further deep diving into the travel behaviour of Indian travellers, the destination range beyond metros like New Delhi and Mumbai and leisure, closer to home destinations like Kochi and Lonavala, rather Indian travellers are travelling to religious and historical destinations like Varanasi and Agra in addition to hill and beach destinations like Ooty and Pondicherry. These trends give a holistic overview of travel destinations and preferences of both Indian travellers within India in the month of August 2022, and Indians travelling abroad.
For Indians travelling internationally, other than the UK, USA and France, they are also booking destinations which are easier to reach and visas can be accessed easily such as Thailand and Indonesia. Hotels continue to be the top booked accommodation type by Indians travelling domestically. Besides hotels, Indians are also looking to stay in alternative accommodations like resorts, guesthouses, homestays, and hostels.
The study also states that 61 per cent prefer opting for budget hotel stays during short haul vacations, followed by 13 per cent who prefer luxury hotels and 10 per cent opt for local homestays. Besides, short haul trips, budget stays and exploring local destinations will be the top trends during the upcoming festive weekend.
Different kind of domestic destinations explored by Indian travellers during the festive period of August 1 – August 31. While New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru are top three metro destinations preferred by Indian travellers for the month of August, many in India are also exploring leisure destinations like Lonavala, Pune and Kochi, religious destinations like Tirupati, Shirdi and Rishikesh, historical and culturally rich destinations like Jaipur, Udaipur and Agra, or travelling to beach destinations like Pondicherry, Goa and Puri and scenic destinations like Ooty, Munnar and Kodaikanal.
International travel trends
When looking at international destinations most preferred by Indian travellers for the extended long weekend, destinations such as Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Vietnam and UAE made it to the top 10 list in addition to countries like UK, USA, France, Switzerland and Malaysia. This also shows that Indians are opting for destinations where obtaining the tourist visa is easier as compared to other countries.
Accommodations preferred – from hotels to hostels
When it comes to accommodation choice, Indians are more likely opting for hotels in addition to alternate accommodation options like – resort, guest houses, homestays and hostels.
Commenting on the trends, Ritu Mehrotra, Regional Commercial Director APAC at Booking.com said, “With Raksha Bandhan on Thursday followed by Independence Day on Monday, Janmashtami on Friday and many such holidays coming up in August, it is a great opportunity for extended weekend getaways. As per Booking.com’s APAC Travel Confidence Index research released recently, 78% of Indian travellers consider leisure travel as important while keeping their overall health and safety in mind. A testimony to this is our search data that shows that Indians are making travel plans during this festive period and using this opportunity to travel either to near-by destinations or long-haul domestic and international destinations.”
