Indians loosen purse strings, all for the love of travel, reveals survey

24% more Indians are travelling this summer vacation as compared to last year, and half of the travellers range between the 25-30 age group.

More Indians have planned their summer getaways this year as against last year, a survey by popular online travel company MakeMyTrip has revealed. While the travellers are 24% more, half of them are in the age group of 25-30.

One in every three domestic travellers prefer to stay in 4-star or 5-star hotels during their travel and that international travellers are spending 10% more this year as compared to last year. (HT FILE)

The survey said one in every three domestic travellers prefer to stay in 4-star or 5-star hotels during their travel and that international travellers are spending 10% more this year as compared to last year.

Mohit Gupta, chief operating officer, MakeMyTrip, said, “With this travel report, we wanted to draw insights about travel behaviour of our customers, to understand how people are travelling this summer.”

Indians are driven by technology, as most bookings are done on smart phones, revealed the survey. “With mobiles becoming the heart of communication, there has been a remarkable year-on-year increase in bookings done from smartphones,” Gupta said.

An official from travel company Thomas Cook said, “Queries and bookings for Summer 2018 is seen as a healthy mix of short and long hauls, with simple visa regimes (eVisa/Visa on arrival) giving an added impetus to Indians who like to go abroad.

An official from Cox & Kings said that among domestic destinations, more than 70% of Indians prefer going to Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Ooty, Pondicherry, Kerala, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Assam. “European destinations continue to dominate the travel for those looking for a longer holiday. Indians want to escape the heat and enjoy the cool climate in Europe,” said Karan Anand, head of relationships in the company.