Indian Travellers Discover Simple Pleasures Next Door Amid Pandemic: Booking. com

While the pandemic has led to seismic shifts in travel behaviours and destination choices, many Indian travellers have discovered simple pleasures next door, leading digital travel player Booking. com said.

New Delhi, Bengaluru, Gurugram, Mumbai and Hyderabad featured as the top most booked destinations between June-August by Indian travellers, showed the data.

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These cities were followed by Jaipur, Chandigarh, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata. So, whether it is exploring the pink city of Jaipur or soaking in the Nawabi culture of Hyderabad, the travel desires of many Indians have still been explored in 2020, just a little closer to home.

"During these unprecedented times it's reassuring to see that while our plans and priorities may have changed, our passion for travel has not," Ritu Mehrotra, Country Manager, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives at Booking. com,

said in a statement.

"Whether it's the memories captured, relationships strengthened or smiles made, the summer of 2020 proved that the happiness travel can bring is not simply measured in kilometres and that there are plenty of adventures to be explored and comfort to be found right next door."

Delving into the travel patterns of Indians in the last few months, Booking. com calculated that the average distance Indians travelled between June and August is down 56 per cent compared with the same time last year, which is slightly lower than the global average of 63 per cent.

When looking back at the same time last year, Indian travellers journeyed on average 1,786 km per booking. In 2020, that distance has dropped to just 780 km per booking.

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About 67 per cent of the total distance travelled by Indians between June 1-August 31 was within the country, compared to only 34 per cent during the same period of 2019.

When it comes to accommodation choice, Indian travellers were more likely to have opted for a motel than they were last year, followed by villa, hotel, lodge and homestay which all topped the rankings of trending accommodation types for Indian travellers, said the report. (IANS)