Indian travellers prefer domestic destinations: Report

Indian travellers are preferring domestic destinations over the international ones, with 68 per cent hotel searches made for cities within the country, a report by travel search engine Kayak said today.

International destinations, on the other hand, got just 32 per cent share in hotel searches, it added.

Puducherry was found to be the most preferred domestic destination, with a 250 per cent year-on-year increase in hotel searches.

Calangute in Goa is close behind, with a 201 per cent increase, while other trending destinations include Coorg in Karnataka and Munnar in Kerala.

New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru were the most popular hotel destinations for short stays (one-three days), it said.

The report is based on searches conducted on Kayak platform between June 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017, for travel between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017.

Meanwhile, the most popular region for Indians when searching for hotels is Asia, with as many as 80 per cent of all hotel searches being for destinations within the region, according to the report.

"This is probably a reflection of the relative ease of access from India, with many destinations in Asia offering an economical choice while not requiring an advance visa for Indian travellers," it said.

Further, the report revealed that three-star hotels are the most-popular hotel category amongst Indian travellers, with 38 per cent of searches made in this category.

However, 24 per cent of searches are also made for luxury five-star hotels, showing that many Indian travellers are willing to splurge on their stay, it added.