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State is the most popular tourist spot: Survey
Maharashtra draws the highest number of tourists followed by Karnataka, found a survey by travel portal Holiday IQ.
Maharashtra draws the highest number of tourists followed by Karnataka, found a survey by travel portal Holiday IQ. The survey ranks Maharashtra four places above holiday hub, Goa. Maharashtra also houses eight of the top ten vacation spots in western India including Mumbai, Alibaug and Lavasa.
The study is based on the behaviour of approximately 60 lakh travellers from May to October in 2010. More than 60% of the respondents were aged between 26 and 45.
The website used Internet page searches, booking enquiries and membership registrations to draw conclusions for the study.
Mountains (22 %) and beaches (21 %) are the most popular holiday destinations in the country with roughly the same number of people visiting friends and family in the other cities.
In the north, Pachmarhi, a hill station in Madhya Pradesh tops the list followed by Manali, Nainital, Mussoorie and Ranthambore while pilgrim city Puri in Orissa is the most popular destination in east India. Coorg in Karnataka emerged as the most favourite vacation sport in the south with Andaman and Nicobar islands grabbing the second spot.
Munnar, the hill-station in the Kerala backwaters and the Lakshadweep islands also feature among the top five destinations. With 35 % travellers picking Gangtok for their holiday last year, the Sikkim capital was the clear winner in the North East.
The survey also found that even though Indians often plan domestic holidays nearly a month in advance, most of them are unable to spare more than two days from work, found a survey by travel portal Holiday IQ.
“Short trips indicate that life is getting hectic with tourists holidaying for only two days per trip despite planning a holiday a month in advance,” said Hari Nair, founder and chief executive officer of the portal.
The study also found that more than 54% vacations were for two to four nights. Modest travel budgets could be one of the reasons behind short vacations.
The report claims that most travellers look for budget accommodation and the average spend per person per trip is just Rs2,480.
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