The year 2016 saw a huge rise in Indians planning travel on the go to showing increased preference to travel domestically, says a study.
As the year draws to a close, global travel search engine Skyscanner presents a roundup of travel trends prevalent among Indian travellers in 2016.
According to the study, mobile web is instrumental in travel planning. The data revealed an 8 per cent Year-on-Year leap in searches made on smart phones, indicating a growing preference to plan travel on the go.
Skyscanner reports also suggests 13 per cent increase in searches for domestic destinations, owing to a rise in number of new routes and flight choices. New Delhi takes the major share of domestic searches in both 2015 and 2016, achieving a steady 15 per cent both years.
Looking further afield at international destinations, the US achieved the most searches in both 2015 and 2016, and searches accounted for 8 per cent and 9 per cent of all searches in the respective year, said a statement.
Budget airlines also continued to be the preferred mode of air travel, whether travelling domestic or international. There was an 8 percent increase in searches for budget airlines tickets compared to 2015.
Indians also enjoy making the most of the festive season in October, which is usually plush with holidays. Occasioned by Durga Puja or Diwali and Bhai Dooj, October has turned out to be the favourite month for travel for the second year in a row.
Skyscanner’s content consumption survey 2016 indicated that Indians are the most adventurous travellers in Asia Pacific but they also leave aside the adventure when it comes to devising the travel, taking a safe timeline of almost 40 days prior to travel period to plan the trip.
Commenting on the findings of this analysis, Reshmi Roy, Growth Manager, India at Skyscanner, said: “The insights we have drawn from this review of Skyscanner’s data are key to understanding travel patterns and will help us to continue building products that solve problems for Indian travellers.”
Roy added, “With increased connectivity, travel planning can become very simple.”
