Indians Continue Holidaying Despite Falling Rupee: Yatra.com survey

Survey reveals that more than 60% people are inclined to travel internationally despite the rupee depreciating

A survey by Yatra.com, one of India's leading online travel portals, brought forth the high spirits of Indian travellers despite the depreciating rupee. The survey showed that more than 60% of Indians are eager to travel and remain unaffected by the dip in rupee and continue to pursue their holiday plans.

This survey clearly displayed the changing paradigm of Indian travellers and how holidays and travel have become a priority amongst Indians. When asked whether they would wait for the rupee to rise and then go on holiday, 18% said no, while 33% said that they would like to wait till the rupee stabilises. The balance 49% said that it does not matter and that they would go on a holiday anyway.

Interestingly, apart from the South East Asian countries, Europe has emerged as a destination of choice, primarily because of the Rupee remaining steady vis-vis the Euro. These destinations were followed in popularity by the United Kingdom and the United States, in that order. Only 24% of the respondents chose to travel within India, while 27% said that the location would depend on the expenses involved. The majority 49% said that it does not matter, showing that there is a significant segment of travellers for whom rupee fluctuations do not really matter.

Sharat Dhall, President, Yatra.com, commented, "The rupee weakening has not really had an adverse impact on Indian travellers as most of them are unfazed and continue to make holiday plans. Savvy Indian travellers book well in advance these days and hence are confident about getting good deals within their budget. The drop in oil prices has resulted in lower flight prices this year and a plethora of hotel deals has also helped in driving down the overall cost of an International break. Also, most travellers are optimistic of the rupee strengthening and are very confident that the fluctuation will not wreck their holiday plans."

Sightseeing emerged as a favourite activity with almost 48% of travellers planning to spend most of their money on it. A fascinating fact that cropped up was how around 35% of the respondents are looking to compromise on air travel in terms of premium and economy seating followed by shopping when it comes to cutting cost or managing budgets for their holidays.

The survey was conducted among 10,000 individuals from Yatra.com's customer base.

Other Key Highlights:

* Almost 41% are not thinking of changing budgets because of the dip in Rupee

* 40% of respondents will not compromise on accommodation and for close to 25%, it did not matter

* Budget Hotels with a 37.1% preference emerged as the preferred form of accommodation followed by Luxury Hotels at 32.3%. The others that followed were Home Stays, Apartments, Staying with Friends and Families, and Guest Houses, in that order

* 43.9% were not planning on shortening the duration their trip while for 24.6% the rupee dip did not matter.

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