As high as 50 per cent chose to book holidays in cities rooted in royal heritage, with Jaipur leading the list. Weekend getaways and premium properties are also top choices of bookings among younger travellers currently, as per a recent Goibibo Market Study.
Young Indians are back to reclaiming life after spending 18 months working from home, spending extra time in the kitchen, and taking care of household chores, celebrating virtual gathering parties and more. With normalcy gradually returning to everyday lives, young Indians are looking forward to reward and celebrate their enduring spirit by treating themselves a bit like royals at some of the culturally rich destinations across the country.
As per a recent market and on-platform study conducted by Goibibo, 50 per cent of travellers opted to explore and indulge in the unmatched cultural experiences in Agra, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Mysore, Udaipur, and Gwalior. Amongst these, Jaipur was the most travelled to city with 24 per cent of travellers booking a quick weekend getaway to the city of magnificent forts and Rajputana charm. The study further indicates that 35 per cent of the travellers chose to holiday at beach or riverside properties in Goa, Puducherry, Rishikesh, and Daman & Diu; and the rest travelled to enjoy the highlands of Manali, Shimla, Darjeeling, Lonavala, Srinagar, Coorg, etc.
It seems that young Indian travellers are willing to splurge on their holidays, with nearly 70 per cent travellers opting for a stay at mid-to-premium properties and bookings on Goibibo indicating that the premium accommodation category has seen a nearly 150 per cent increase in bookings when compared to bookings made in February 2020. The mid-segment has seen a jump of 64 per cent in comparison to pre-COVID days. Interesting to note is the fact that 90 per cent of the bookings at mid-level to luxury properties were made for weekend getaways and short-haul trips.
Commenting on the insights, Sunil Suresh, chief marketing officer at Goibibo shares, “Hills and beach holidays have been a perennial favourite of all. However, it’s interesting to see that post the pandemic, one in every two young Indians opted to travel to a culturally rich destination to experience the country’s rich cultural heritage.” He says that this appetite has been further supported by availability of various value-adds and hotel booking offers available on platforms like theirs, which has made such stays more accessible and budget-friendly. As the winter holiday season approaches, they are confident they’ll see a consistent month-on-month surge in bookings to all travel landscapes – be it, hills, beaches, or similar, culturally rich destinations.
As the festive and winter holiday season season approaches, young travellers have already begun searching and booking travel 30 to 45 days in advance. Currently, 60 per cent of the total advance bookings are led by those in Goa, Manali, Darjeeling, Udaipur, Shimla, Gangtok, Agra, Jaipur, Amritsar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Srinagar, and a few other destinations.
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