Monsoon not stopping Indians from planning holidays: Survey

The monsoon season was once considered a lean period for travel, but Indians are planning holidays with full gusto this time, according to a survey.

Online travel portal Yatra.com conducted its annual monsoon survey, which witnessed the participation of 1,500 people from cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Vadodara and more. It brings into spotlight the changes in the way Indian travelers are planning to holiday in monsoon.

The survey stated that 81 per cent respondents were planning to travel during monsoon, with 69 per cent people preferring to travel by air rather than travel by road to escape the hustle bustle of the season, said a statement.

However, as an impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the survey revealed that a significant number of 56 per cent of the respondents said their preference of luxury travel has been adversely affected as against 48 per cent, who were willing to spend more than Rs 50,000 per person on travel which was revealed in Yatra's annual summer survey 2017.

Also, while a majority of 47.2 per cent of the respondents are looking to travel for one to four days, 45.9 per cent of the people are planning their vacation for almost 15 days. This indicates that monsoon travel has gradually become a popular travel season.

Monsoon also seems to be the family bonding time with over 76 per cent respondents looking to go for family vacation. Almost 73 per cent people said they are seeking unique experiences in India over holidaying at international destinations.

The survey also finds that 43 per cent Indians believe that relaxation during holidays is the key reason to travel, underlining the urban Indian's need to escape the grind of everyday life.

"Individuals, these days, are taking more frequent vacations to unwind from their daily routine. It is very encouraging to see that once what was labelled as an off season is now becoming a popular travel period especially due to the upcoming long weekends.

"We have also seen an increased demand for newer destinations this monsoon with places like Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands making it to our top five domestic destinations. While luxury travel has experienced a hit due to GST, we expect things to be back to normal soon," said Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com.

--IANS

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