As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, data from Booking.com, the world’s leading digital travel company, reflects consumer travel optimism with Indian travellers searching for destinations to safely explore in the upcoming monsoon months.
Recent ‘Back to Travel’ research by Booking.com has found that 68%** of Indian travellers state that not being able to travel extensively in 2020 has made them yearn for travel even more in 2021. The research also mentions that 70%** of Indian travellers have used the increased time at home to plan future travel while 64%** of Indian travellers have banked more vacation days, so are excited about the potential of taking longer vacations in 2021. Furthermore, 72%** of Indian travellers say that travel is more important to them now than it was before the pandemic.
Booking.com shares insights on the top domestic destinations and accommodation types booked by Indian travellers for the months of July and August 2021. New Delhi emerged as the top destination booked by Indian travellers travelling domestically, followed by Lonavala and Mumbai. Travellers are opting for alternative accommodations such as resorts, villas and guesthouses, in addition to hotels for this monsoon season.
Monsoon Travel Preference
Top booked destinations by Indian travellers travelling within India in July and August 2021*
- New Delhi
- Lonavala
- Mumbai
- Manali
- Bengaluru
- Jaipur
- Chennai
- Goa
- Gurgaon
- Kolkata
Top booked accommodation types by Indian travellers travelling domestically in July and August 2021*
While the hotel segment remains at the top, there is a growing popularity of alternative accommodations such as resorts, villas and guesthouses which found themselves in the top five, as getaways with more privacy and seclusion from the crowd.
Top Booked Accommodation Types
- Hotel
- Resort
- Villa
- Guest House
- Apartment
Appealing to new travel behaviours
Given the uncertainty travelers continue to experience, it is unsurprising that health and safety and flexibility continues to be top priority in the customer’s decision-making process. Innovating to respond to this growing demand, Booking.com is looking to make it easier for travellers to view the different health and safety measures taken by accommodations on our website, in areas such as hygiene, sanitization, social distancing and food safety. The Flexible-1 Day policy allows customers to cancel for free up till one day before check-in. To further accelerate support for travellers, Booking.com has now extended the policy on all bookings and not just for bookings opted with flexible-rate, where travellers.
who have opted for non-refundable rates are also allowed one date change to their booking. These are just some of the ways Booking.com continues to listen and respond to customer demand and innovate our platform.
Ritu Mehrotra, Regional Manager, South Asia at Booking.com said “With the vaccine roll out well underway, coupled with lockdown restrictions slowly beginning to lift across the country, our data shows that travellers are hopeful about experiencing travel once again. We are seeing a desire to travel as travellers step out for a change in lifestyle after spending time at home during the lockdown and make the most of the monsoon season. Health, safety and flexibility remains top traveller priorities in the new normal, as they continue to make staycations, workcations and quick getaways at closer to home destinations a part of their travel agenda. We are committed to making it easier for everyone to experience the world, as it becomes safe to do so.”
*This forward-looking data is based on bookings made by travellers in July and August 2021 and is subject to changes on the basis of cancellations.
Methoodology
**Research commissioned by Booking.com and conducted among a sample of adults who are planning to travel in the next 12 months. In total 28,042 respondents across 28 countries, including India. Respondents completed an online survey in January 2021.
