Keeping fit now vital part of Indian vacationers: Survey

There is a new wave of young Indian travellers, who are swapping beaches and beers for action-packed, celebrity-inspired fitness getaways, according to a survey.
About 95.6 per cent of 18-35 year Indian travellers now consider keeping fit one of the most important parts of their holiday experience, according to a survey by travel experts Hotels.Com.
"There's been a real evolution in holiday priorities and millennial travellers in particular now demand more from a trip," Hotels.Com Director, Regional Marketing Greater China, SEA and India, Jessica Chuang said.
The Hotels.Com 'Activacations Survey' was done among 8,400 adults across 28 countries, by OnePoll between March 31 2017 and June 21 2017.

The survey also showed that the rise of the 'activacation' is also down to a barrage of social media 'fitfluencers', who are combining sun, sea and sport.
It revealed that Indian millennial travellers are generally looking for richer, more unusual holiday experiences and admit that they use exercise to meet new people (38 per cent) and explore new places from an alternative perspective (29.8 per cent).

Wanting to keep a good mood through the vacation (55 per cent) and keeping a check on holiday weight (32.7 per cent) also ranked high as reasons for workout motivation, it added.
Many Indian holidaymakers are happy to give up top-notch food (75.6 per cent), relaxing, (61 per cent), sightseeing (36.6 per cent) and even alcohol (15.3 per cent) to get their fitness fix on vacation, it said.

Fitness is now becoming so ingrained in the holiday experience, demand for superior fitness experiences from hotels has also reached a new high, the survey said.
It found that free access to all exercise facilities (71.6 per cent), state-of-the-art fitness facilities (23.6 per cent), personal training (33.3 per cent), healthy menus (37 per cent) and complimentary massages after exercise (23.3 per cent) all feature high on the hotel wish list.
"Fitness options are now so important that millennial are choosing hotels based on how they'll keep fit on vacation - and hotels are really upping their game," Chuang said.
While men seek to take part in extreme physical activities on vacation, like boxing (17.2 per cent), beach hiking (36.6 per cent) and wake-boarding (19.9 per cent), majority of Indian women are opting for holistic wellness holidays with meditation (53.2 per cent), laughter yoga (40.3 per cent) and pilates (45.8 per cent).

Running emerged as a clear winner amongst Indian travellers with 84 per cent of men and 80.7 per cent of women voting it as a preferred activity when on vacation.