More Indians travelling now; searches for spiritual destinations nearly doubled in last 2 years
The report also highlighted that from Delhi, the top searched destinations were Rishikesh and Amritsar.
INDIANS are increasingly travelling to spiritual destinations, with online searches of these places from tier-2 and 3 cities up 97 per cent in last two years, a report released on Monday revealed.
According to MakeMyTrip India Travel Trends Report, searches for Ayodhya grew 585 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2022. It was followed by a 359 per cent jump for Ujjain and 343 per cent rise in searches for Badrinath.
It also highlighted that from Delhi, the top searched destinations were Rishikesh and Amritsar.
The report also said that there has been a 25 per cent jump in the number of people taking more than three trips a year, in 2023 as compared to 2019.
Jim Corbett National Park emerged as the top weekend getaway choice with searches for it increasing 131 per cent in 2023 as compared to 2022. It was followed by Ooty and Munnar.
Interestingly, the report also showed that more Indians prefer to travel with their family. Family travel bookings rose 64 per cent in 2023 as compared to the previous year. On the other hand, searches for solo travel were up a relatively lower 23 per cent.
"A significant portion of travel bookings in India are made spontaneously," it said adding that 46 per cent of domestic flights were booked less than a week before the travel date. "In contrast, about half of all international bookings are made at least two weeks in advance."
For international travel, the report said that 30 per cent of all searches from India were for Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore. "While London, Toronto and New York are the most searched long-haul destinations," it said.
The report also highlighted that searches for emerging international destinations also grew multifold in 2023. This included places like Hong Kong, Almaty, Paro, Baku, Da Nang and Tbilisi.
