30% Of India's International Travel Searches Prioritise Dubai, Bangkok & Singapore: Report

Indian travellers are significantly influencing both domestic and international tourism, according to insights from MakeMyTrip's India Travel Trends Report, which illuminates key behaviours and preferences.

Indians are now travelling more often, with a surge in travel frequency reported from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. As per MMT, the number of people taking more than three trips per year grew by 25 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2019. In this segment, spiritual tourism has also seen an uptake, with searches for Ayodhya growing by 585 per cent, Ujjain by 359 per cent and Badrinath by 343 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2022.

Weekend getaways also remain favoured, while Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore top international travel searches. Family travel bookings are on the rise, where bookings surged by 64 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2022, followed by solo traveller booking growth at 23 per cent for the same comparative period.

30 per cent 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. Searches for emerging international destinations grew multi-fold in 2023, hot favourites include Hong Kong, Almaty, Paro, Baku, Da Nang and Tbilisi.

Some key insights from the report are:

Tier-2 and tier-3 cities are embracing spiritual journeys, with searches for destinations with or around religious spots growing 97 per cent in the last two years.

Searches for Ayodhya grew by 585 per cent, Ujjain by 359 per cent and Badrinath by 343 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2022.

Weekend getaways continue to curry favour with Indian travellers, searches for Jim Corbett grew by 131 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2022; Ooty and Munnar are other favourites in this context.

50 per cent of all domestic flyers pick flights between 9 am and 6 pm irrespective of destination or origin.

A significant portion of travel bookings in India are made spontaneously, with 46 per cent 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.

Accommodation booking preferences:

56 per cent of domestic leisure hotel bookings on the platform are made less than a week before the day of travel.

33 per cent of international hotel bookings are made at least 30 days before the date of travel.

Alternative accommodations on the platform recorded a 24 per cent 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 per cent of family travellers searched for properties with tariffs over Rs 10,000 per night.

EE News Desk

EE Online Bureau EE News Desk