ETW Staff – Mumbai
Travel search site Skyscanner has released a series of travel trends showing Indians are keen to escape from the scorching heat and are turning to overseas travel this summer season. While international destinations have seen a whopping 101 per cent growth in volume searches, searches for domestic destinations have seen a rise of 60 per cent over January to April 2014 compared to the same period last year.
“Indians have become more experimental when it comes to travel this summer season. In the spirit of exploration, they are looking for longer, more expensive trips and are searching for newer destinations,” said Kavitha Gnanamurthy, Senior Marketing Manager, Skyscanner India.
Skyscanner’s data suggests that Indian travellers are becoming increasingly adventurous with their travel choices – Bhutan, a popular but remote backpacking route located at the eastern end of the Himalayas – has witnessed a staggering 244 per cent increase in overall searches. Another destination that has gained traction amongst destination searches is Morocco, witnessing a 261 per cent increase in searches compared to last year over the same period. Greenland (+240 per cent), Thailand (+214 per cent) and UAE (+204 per cent) are some of the other countries that have piqued consumers’ curiosity this year.
Known for its Roman architecture, serene coastal landscape and mountains, Croatia emerged to be one of the most searched European countries with a year on year growth of 152 per cent. While Croatia would normally be considered an unlikely destination choice for Indians, Skyscanner’s data shows how Indians are becoming more willing and experimental to explore the un-explored. Far Northern European countries including Greenland and Iceland emerge as exotic summer getaway options with a 210 per cent year on year growth. In terms of sheer volume of searches US, Thailand, UAE, UK and Singapore remain the most searched destinations for Indians this summer.
Within India, travellers are looking at exploring destinations such as Srinagar, Goa, Kochi and Port Blair. Skyscanner’s trends conclusions are based on consumer search data for flights on www.skyscanner.co.in between January and April 2013 and the same period in 2014.
