Internet, nightlife, nudity: Indian tourists’ new beach itinerary

The annual Flip Flop survey released by travel portal Expedia on Wednesday polled young travellers aged between 18 years and 25 years across 24 countries

Indian tourists were unable to switch off their smart phones even while unwinding at a beach according to a global survey that quizzed about 12,000 young travellers about beach vacation habits.

Indian tourists were unable to switch off their smart phones even while unwinding at a beach according to a global survey that quizzed about 12,000 young travellers about beach vacation habits. (Shutterstock)

The annual Flip Flop survey released by travel portal Expedia on Wednesday polled young traveller aged between 18 years and 25 years across 24 countries.

Northstar, a globally integrated strategic insights consulting firm conducted the online poll in April on behalf of Expedia.

Sampling quotas and weighting were used to ensure that the sample is representative of each country’s population in terms of age and gender. Assuming a probability sample, the margin of error would be +/-0.93 percentage points or 19 times out of 20, the report stated.

While one-fourth Indian respondents said they needed a net connection to keep a tab on office emails almost four out of 10 respondents said that a Wi-Fi connection was necessary to post real-time pictures on online photo-sharing sites such as Instagram and Snapchat.

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Sharing photos seems obvious when travellers work on their looks ahead of a beach vacation. Indians led the pack here, survey findings showed. At least 43% respondents confirmed a spa visit comprising pedicure, manicure etc, followed by another 40% who got their hair done up and another 30% who got tanned before the dip in the ocean.

“The Flip-Flop survey has given us some interesting facts about Indians and their preferences for a beach vacation. According to the survey, India (81%) stands 2nd in taking a beach vacation last year after Thailand (82%) followed by Italy (79%),” said Manmeet Ahluwalia, marketing head, Expedia (India).

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While majority of Indian tourists pick beach holidays based on travel time from home (45%) and availability of kid-friendly resorts (48%) a significant number of respondents said that they chose beaches with good night life (39%), those which permitted nude tourists (24%) and the ones attracting several single travellers (26%).