Surge In Indians Travelling, Spiritual Trips In Demand: MakeMyTrip Report On Travel Trends
Searches for Ayodhya grew by 585%, Ujjain by 359% and Badrinath by 343% in 2023 as compared to 2022, the report said.
Travel company MakeMyTrip's India Travel Trends Report offers interesting insights into the behaviour patterns of Indian travellers and their travel preferences.
The company's report is based on trends reflected among its 100M+ annual active users. It also tracked the top behaviours of Indian travellers in its report.
The report mentioned that in 2023, there was a 25% surge in the number of people who took more than three trips annually as compared to what it was in 2019.
Tier-2 and tier-3 cities are embracing spiritual journeys, with searches for destinations with or around religious spots growing 97% in the last two years, the report said.
Searches for Ayodhya grew by 585%, Ujjain by 359% and Badrinath by 343% in 2023 as compared to 2022.
Furthermore, there was a surge in searches observed for weekend getaway places. Searches for Jim Corbett grew by 131% in 2023 as compared to 2022. Ooty and Munnar were other favourites in this context.
"30% of all international travel searches from India are for Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore, while London, Toronto and New York are the most searched long-haul destinations," said the report.
In 2023, Hong Kong, Almaty, Paro, Baku, Da Nang and Tbilisi were marked to be hot favourites as emerging international destinations for Indian travellers.
MakeMyTrip noted a 64% boost in family travel bookings and a 23% boost in solo trips in 2023 as compared to 2022. 50% of domestic flyers preferred flying between 9 AM to 6 PM regardless of their destination.
56% of domestic leisure hotel bookings via the MakeMyTrip platforms were done a week before the trip, while 33% of international bookings were made 30 days before the travel.
A few highlights from the report on how India travels:
A significant portion of travel bookings in India are made spontaneously, with 46% of domestic flights booked less than a week before the travel date. In contrast, about half of all international bookings are made at least two weeks in advance.
Only one-third of international bookings are made more than a month before the travel date, suggesting a flexible approach to international travel planning among Indian travellers.
Women prefer to pre-book window seats, while men pick aisle seats.
Tomato Cucumber Cheese Lettuce Sandwich is the most ordered in-flight meal on domestic flights.
Alternative accommodations on the platform recorded 24% growth in bookings in 2023
For hostels and apartments, the preference is for those less than Rs 2,500 per night but for villas, it is higher.
Close to 20% of family travellers searched for properties with tariffs over Rs 10,000 per night.
"UPI is the most preferred payment method for booking travel, making close to 40% of all transaction types, followed by the use of credit cards," said the MakeMyTrip report.
The report mentioned that wedding gift cards worth Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 are the most gifted. 1 out of 2 travel gift cards are presented as wedding 'shagun', the report said.
"MakeMyTrip’s India Travel Trends Report highlights some of the latest essential trends. As India emerges as a formidable force in the tourism sector, these insights can help bridge the demand and supply gaps in the travel and hospitality space. This means crafting policies, identifying destinations, and creating experiences that resonate with the traveller’s unique travel preferences and aspirations," said Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO, of MakeMyTrip.
He further elaborated that identifying and meeting every traveller’s diverse behaviour could improve travel experiences and boost the growth of the tourism industry.
