Nearly 8 out of ten travellers chose a budget holiday as compared to spending lavishly on a vacation, according to a survey conducted by travel portal Yatra.com. Of the 1500 frequent vacationers polled in the survey 78.13 % said that they would prefer a budget holiday. “The survey found that people are resorting to affordable means of transport, cheaper stay and food on vacations in the wake of the economic slowdown and price rise,” said Pratik Majumder, head of marketing and strategic alliance, Yatra.com.

Airfares, stay and spend on food were the three major areas wherein people cut cost, the survey stated.

For instance, 24.2% respondents said that they chose a holiday destination wherein they had friends or relatives to save on hotel stay. Another 21% said that they booked 3 star hotels with per night spend of Rs5000 per night.

Similarly, 15% respondents said that they either booked cheap air tickets well in advance or settled for long distance trains, the survey added.

“We have witnessed a distant switch in the air ticket booking pattern in the recent past. As compared to the previous cycle of booking 30 days before the date of departure, now we are receiving booking up to 60 days in advance,” added Majumder. The survey added that 41.60% of the respondents served in private companies.

Discounted travel offers was the principal driver in influencing holidays. While 19.25% respondents said they plan holidays depending on the deals on offer, distance of the journey (16.58%) and the number of leaves to taken (17.11%) were the other major deciding factors.

Nearly 22% respondents said they did not stick to the pre-decided travel budget. But 26.40% travellers said they did.