75 pc of urban Indians plan festive travel: YouGov

Millennials are driving travel trends this festive season, with 80 pc planning trips from September to December

Millennials are driving travel trends this festive season, with 80 pc planning trips from September to December, according to YouGov, a global online data and analytics technology group. Overall, three-quarters of urban Indians intend to travel, favouring domestic destinations and shorter vacations.

In a press statement, YouGov says that among those planning trips, 72 pc prefer domestic travel. Meanwhile, 9 pc are leaning towards international destinations and 19 pc are considering both domestic and international options.

It adds that for domestic travel, Goa tops the list at 35 pc, followed by Kerala at 26 pc and Himachal Pradesh at 24 pc. Internationally, the Middle East is most popular at 46 pc, with Europe at 35 pc and Southeast Asia at 34 pc.

According to the survey, shorter vacations are favoured, with 47 pc planning a week-long trip and 34 pc opting for long weekends of up to 3 days. About 19 pc are considering vacations of two weeks or more.

It adds that online travel agency MakeMyTrip leads in bookings, with 50 pc choosing it for flights and 48 pc for hotels. Booking.com is next for flights and hotels.

The statement adds that despite reliance on booking platforms, 55 pc of urban Indians prefer to book independently, about 30 pc choose bundled packages from online travel agencies, while 17 pc use traditional agents.

It adds that long weekends from September to December are expected to influence travel plans, with 27 pc of urban Indians seeing them as an ideal travel window and the festive atmosphere also influences travel decisions for 23 pc of urban Indians, while year-end events impact 20 pc. Additionally, 19 pc are motivated by festive deals on flights and hotels.