Yatra.com has recently rolled out a winter survey to gauge travellers’ sentiments during this peak season. In the pan India survey conducted, Yatra.com has identified that 67.8 per cent of the respondents plan to pack their bags and set out to explore a new destination, away from the monotonous routine, this season. Amongst these 67.9 per cent of travellers, ideally want to explore domestic destinations and enjoy the country’s chilly weather as compared to 32.1 per cent who are planning an overseas vacation.
This trend is particularly true amongst millennials who set out for multiple vacations in the year to take a quick break from the haggles of daily routine and the survey validates the same by showing 51.9 per cent of respondents take 2-4 holidays in a year. For this generation of travellers, vacations have become an important investment for rejuvenation and they are ready to splurge on the same. Basis, the survey it was noted that majority of the respondents were willing to spend Rs. 50,000 per person on international travel and Rs. 25,000 per person on domestic travel. The reasons for travel vary between relaxation, recuperation, spending time with family and friends or experience different cultures of a new place. It was also seen that people were looking for experiential activities rather than checklist sightseeing.
Another important aspect that has been highlighted in the survey is the trend amongst the new age traveller to have everything in accordance to their preference. They are even ready to invest extra to get the vacation of their choice. This can be further seen by the survey result wherein 42.2 per cent of the respondents were willing to pay via credit card and 68.1per cent were ready to book flights and hotels separately. Even when package deals come at a much more affordable rate, travellers love customisation. Individuals are also opting for alternative accommodation options, villas and resorts to have a great stay experience.
Apart from winter vacations, which have 46.4 per cent of the respondents make their travel plan during that time, 42.4 per cent of the respondents prefer to plan their travel during the long weekends. This is a recurring trend, which has been noticed over the past few years. During the long weekends, travellers are able to take frequent short trips in a year where they are likely to choose domestic destinations over international ones. Short haul trips, as a trend, has also picked up this year, with preferred destinations being the sunny beaches of Goa, Andaman Nicobar Islands and hill stations of Himachal Pradesh. Even in the case of international trips, short haul destinations such as Thailand, Singapore, Dubai and Malaysia, are still the top favourites.
Commenting on the findings from the survey, Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com said, “Travel has become an integral part of one’s lifestyle and individuals are ready to spend extra bucks on customization in order to have their ideal vacation. Keeping up with this new customer demand for personalized travel, Yatra has launched Privy, which is an exclusive travel programme, aimed at the discerning traveller. Every travel request is treated with a deft touch by dedicated Travel Advisors assigned to individual clients.”
