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“Indian Traveller Gears for More International Travel and Higher Spending this Winter”, Reveals TripAdvisor Survey

New Delhi :

Interesting facts revealed by the Survey

TripAdvisor.in, the Indian domain of the world’s largest and most popular travel portal announced the results of its ‘Winter Travel Survey’ that revealed interesting trends concerning Indian travellers this winter.

Overall Indians will travel more this winter compared to last. 50% respondents will travel within India this year (compared to 43% last year) while International travel takes a leap of 16% with 41% respondents heading to foreign destinations (compared to 25% last year).

“TripAdvisor surveys are conducted among a large community of real travellers and every year we see new interesting facts surface giving us valuable insights into the preferences of Indian travellers”, says Sharat Dhall, Managing Director, TripAdvisor India.

What the India Winter Travel Survey 2010 Reveals?

Where are we headed this winter? Where do we dream to go?

• Domestic- Goa. With over 12% respondents mentioning the sun-kissed state as their destination this winter, Goa remains India’s darling destination

• International-Singapore. Over 14% of India’s outbound travellers seem to be headed to this ever popular island in South-East Asia.

• Asked where they would want to go if money didn’t matter, most Indians named Europe as their dream destination. USA and Australia followed, but at a distance.

Are we planned? How do we get set before we go?

• Indian travellers are getting more organized! A healthy 32% of respondents are planning their travel at least 2 months in advance and 32% are actually booking a month before their holiday.

• Looking dandy is important! 53% of respondents will get a haircut & a whopping 44% will shop for clothes or beachwear & 24% will head for a manicure/pedicure. Also 22% respondents plan to diet their way to a bikini ready body while 16% will hit the gym to shape up. Looking intellectual is important too. 33% respondents will buy a book. And to keep looking good, over 25% respondents will shop for a sun block lotion.

Where will we stay? How will we choose where we stay?

• While most travellers (over 34%) will stay at small-to-medium sized hotels, a lot of Indian travellers (over 16%) are opting for unique ‘one-off’ properties such as heritage resorts, home-stays or tree-houses!

• As an emerging trend, Indian travellers are listening more to each other, than to paid advertising! Over 15% respondents will consider traveller reviews are the top factor influencing their choice of hotel.

• Budget and hotel location are the obvious top influencers for over 38% and 27% respondents respectively.

Sharat Dhall elaborates, “This shows a significant shift in trend, with people slowly looking to user-generated reviews for trusted advice on all aspects of travel planning including hotels”.

Internet Connectivity/Addicted to Facebook & Work!

• 39% of travellers upload photos to social networks such as Facebook, even while they are still on holiday! Indian travellers love their holidays and want to share their good times with their friends right away.

• Ironically while holidays are the time to disconnect from the daily grind, 84% respondents intend to be connected online.

• While 46% respondents will lug their laptops along on their holiday, smart cookies will get online through their nifty Blackberries and Nokia smartphones (19% respondents each).

• Social networking aside, 59% continue to slave away on holiday to check their work emails.

Environmentally Conscious/Green Intentions, but no information!

• Displaying a rising conscience to go green, over 72% respondents intend to avoid littering their surroundings and 54% will reduce their laundry usage in a bid to lessen their environmental impact.

• However, over 46% respondents cited lack of adequate information as the number one barrier in planning an eco-friendly holiday.

The ‘Winter Travel Survey’ was carried out amongst 2325 Indian travellers from across the country and quizzed the on various parameters including their dream destinations, favourite holiday activities and influential factors while choosing a hotel/accommodation.

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