60 Percent Of Respondents Wish To Travel During Winter Holiday Season
As the world gears up to welcome the New Year with an optimistic outlook, one in every three Indians is planning to travel and vacation during the upcoming Christmas and New Year season show a new survey.
A recent survey by travel booking platform goibibo suggests that 60 percent of respondents who are willing to travel during the winter holiday season are planning to spend the year-end vacationing in the hills or by the beach. Amongst those surveyed, more than 70 percent are hoping to relax and celebrate this winter holiday season with their family, spouse, or partner while the rest are looking to end the year traveling with friends and long-not-met colleagues.
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According to Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip Limited that includes MakeMyTrip, goibibo, and redBus shared "Pent-up wanderlust is real and these survey findings reflect that Indians are finding new ways to fulfill their travel aspirations and are confidently stepping forward when assured of safe travel choices. Over the past few months, we have worked closely and creatively with the entire travel and hospitality value chain to raise safety standards and help customers make the journey from being homebound to being travelers again.
Bookings for the winter festive holiday season on goibibo indicate an increase in travel to domestic leisure destinations including Goa, Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar, Pondicherry, Coorg, Shimla, Manali, and Darjeeling. As we step into 2021, we are confident of a continued upward travel trend that will find more force as the mass vaccine rollout plan materializes."
The survey was conducted among 2000+ respondents between November 15-December 5. It indicates that the winter holiday season will witness nearly 60 percent of leisure travelers booking a trip for two or more days.
90 percent of the respondents are willing to spend more on safety, hygiene, and sanitization facilities during their stay. Pixabay
While travelers are equally split between beaches and mountains as holiday destinations of choice in India, they concur the destination has to bring them closer to nature and be scenic more than anything else. While nearly 70 percent of respondents want to spend time outdoors, soaking in the sights or doing adventure activities like rafting, hiking, water sport, or just sightseeing; only 20 percent of respondents are looking to wrap the year at bars or parties. As safety remains paramount, survey respondents gave the highest preference to sanitization, hygiene, and safety certification in their order of priority while choosing their stay option.
Long-distance leisure travel comes back, drive-through holidays remain a top choice 50 percent of travelers across all demographics, and cohorts are willing to opt for air travel for the upcoming winter holiday season signaling a strong boost in passenger confidence and trust in hopping on to a flight for a holiday post-pandemic. With flight holidays in equal consideration as drive-through holidays, the preference for air travel can also be attributed to the mini-road trips undertaken by people since Unlock was announced in July.
Travelers are looking to unwind and engage more than 80 percent of respondents are looking for on-premise engagement activities. Findings reveal that almost 50 percent of the surveyed are keen on opting for properties that offer bonfire, barbeque options, and private party place options on Christmas and New Year's Eve; and 37 percent are looking for in-house dining options that serve a variety of local delicacies allowing travelers to indulge in local delicacies of the destination.
Safety, hygiene, and flexible and easily refundable booking options are top spends. Findings reveal that about 90 percent of the respondents are willing to spend more on safety, hygiene, and sanitization facilities during their stay. Some of the parameters that travelers are actively considering while booking a hotel include the availability of sanitized and trained staff with protective gear (46 percent), regular deep cleaning and sanitization of rooms (46 percent), and COVID free certified hotels (41 percent) among others.
Additionally, as people now spend more time weighing various travel parameters before firming up their travel plans, they are looking for easy and flexible booking options with 86 percent opting for fully refundable air tickets and hotel vouchers for their next travel booking. (IANS)
