Vacationing with family still a priority for Indians

Vacationing with friends and family still a priority for Indians according to Travel Tours Leisure Travel Survey 2019. Travel Tours, the leisure travel brand of FCM Travel Solutions has released its first Outbound Travel Survey for 2019 before the start of the busy summer travel season. The Survey was conducted individually with more than 1200 respondents within the age group of 25-65 years across 8 key cities in India who had booked international travel recently on the platform.

“The Travel Tours Leisure Travel Survey 2019 gives us a unique insight into the travel preferences of the discerning Indian Traveller. With the rise in disposable incomes, ease of access to new and upcoming holiday destinations and convenience in planning and booking holidays online, the number of Indians travelling abroad has multiplied exponentially. At Travel Tours we believe in designing the best travel packages available basis travel behaviour and this survey has helped us delve deeper into the psyche of the Indian traveller and helped us tailor our offerings to suit their individual needs,” said Rakshit Desai – Managing Director, FCM Travel Solutions, Indian Subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group.

According to the Survey, more and more travelers are coming out of their comfort zones and travelling to newer destinations to experience their hobbies or unexplored interests. However interestingly the preference is still to explore these new destinations as a friends and family group (preferred choice of 45.6 per cent of travelers polled) and not as a solo traveler. This group is further broken down with 71 per cent opting to travel with their immediate family while the remaining choosing to include extended family and friends. Beach Holidays, the hottest trend last summer, has taken a backseat (34.8 per cent) while Adventure Holidays came in second with a preference rating of 45 per cent.

The Survey also found that South East Asia continued to be a preferred destination with the Indian Outbound Traveler with 35.3 per cent having visited over the last 6 months and 30.7 per cent intending to visit over the next 6 months. This was followed by Middle East and South Asia.

Interestingly, 72.9 per cent of Indian travelers still prefer to save up before planning a holiday with only a small pool of respondents willing to opt for travel loans.