India Travel News: Survey says Travel set to surge past pre-Covid levels this summer | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: The appetite to holiday is finally surging past pre-Covid levels despite curated packages getting more expensive, supply chains feeling the strain and persistent visa-related issues, according to latest travel trends.
The desire to travel to foreign lands, a recent travel survey by Thomas Cook and SOTC suggests, is back on the radar and seeing a strong resurgence even though several embassies are still grappling with huge pendency of visas.
The India Holiday Report-May 2023 says Europe has emerged as a favourite among nearly a half of the respondents surveyed from metro and tier II cities, with Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy leading as preferred destinations. Where long haul trips are not possible, people are still looking to get away, if only for shorter periods, preferring to take a break in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Oman, or at island destinations like Maldives or Mauritius.
Better flight connectivity to Vietnam and Cambodia has resulted in an increase in interest for the region. There is also heightened interest in travel to Japan and South Korea. Australia, with its end-to-end digital visa processes, has seen an uptick of 20% in travel bookings as opposed to the USA, which has seen a dip as a result of difficulties in obtaining visas.
Though the pent-up desire to travel has made travellers willing to shell out more for their long-pending vacations, key considerations while firming up itineraries remain easy availability of visas in the majority of the cases, followed by flexibility options including zero penalties for date changes or rebooking, as well as convenient payment options such as travel loans, EMIs and ‘buy now-pay later’ options for bookings.
What was once the primary consideration for international travel — health and safety measures — though still important, is the primary consideration for only 30% respondents, says the report.
While only domestic holidays were preferred by 40% of respondents and only international by 66%, a significant 90% opted for both. Domestic destinations favoured include Kashmir (60%); Himachal and Uttarakhand (50%), Ladakh (35%), Northeast (40%), Kerala (25%), Andamans (30%), Goa (30%) and Bhutan in the Indian subcontinent (30%).
‘Gen S’, the new term that refers to India’s ‘silvers and seniors’, with their significant post-retirement disposable income also displays a high travel appetite and preference for premium holidays like luxury cruises and the Japanese cherry blossom tours.