July 14, 2018 TnH Global 1

Travel searches this monsoon grow by 25%: Report

Travel searches this monsoon season have increased by 25 per cent over last year, with Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok being the most preferred destinations, a report said. The usual favourites like New York and London were also in the top 10 most searched list, a report by US-based travel portal KAYAK said.

“In this year’s monsoon season, travel searches have increased by 25 per cent than last monsoons. They (Indians) look at exploring different parts of the world during each holiday season, and this time, South Asian destinations are topping the list,” said Abhijit Mishra, director – India and Middle East, KAYAK.

South Asian destinations of Singapore, Dubai and Bangkok topped the list of most-searched destinations, with 113 per cent, 107 per cent and 57 per cent increase in flight searches, respectively. The report analysed data from searches conducted on KAYAK between January 1 and June 28 for travel dates between June 15 and August 31.

Destinations like Paris and Chicago were also amongst the top trending destinations, showing that Indians are willing to explore even to far off countries, and aren’t limiting themselves only to the nearby ones, the report said.

When it comes to international destinations, it said Indian travellers are looking at spending a longer time on their trips. While for closer destinations like Dubai, Bangkok and Bali, the average trip duration is a week, for further destinations like San Francisco, Chicago and Toronto, it is as long as a month, according to the report.

In terms of domestic destinations, Udaipur was the most-searched city, with an 88 per cent increase over last year, while Tirupati ranking second with a 68 per cent increase in flight searches. Less conventional destination like Leh was also a part of the list witnessing 42 per cent increase in searches.

Most of these trips had an average duration of three days, the report said.