Indians are planning overseas trips with renewed enthusiasm, and while interest in traditionally popular destinations remains high, they are also expanding their travel horizons and looking to explore new getaways abroad, said data from Airbnb.
The company saw a staggering increase of more than 1,250 per cent in searches for stays in Turkey, over 750 per cent spike in searches in Norway and a 625 per cent rise in searches for Portugal from Q3 of calendar 2021 to Q3 of the current calender year.
Other trending foreign destinations include South Africa (a 600 per cent spike in searches, Poland and Finland (each over 500 per cent), Greece (over 450 per cent) and South Korea (over 400 per cent).
New data from Airbnb reveals that long-haul favourites such as the US, UK and cities across Europe feature prominently in guest searches overseas, with London, Dubai, Paris, Toronto and New York ranking the top searched overseas cities by Indians in Q3 2022.
Domestically, Indians are exploring popular beach destinations, the hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the North-Eastern region as well.
Overall nights booked in India grew by almost half, while domestic nights booked grew by almost 80 per cent in Q3 2022 when compared to Q3 2019.
Amanpreet Bajaj, Airbnb's General Manager for India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said: "As travel resumes across the globe, Airbnb is seeing a surge in interest among Indian travellers to venture overseas as well as explore destinations locally. This growing appetite for travel is a positive sign as tourism recovery gathers pace."
When travelling, Indian guests are searching for amenities that facilitate flexible and new ways of traveling and living, with pools, wifi, kitchens, air-conditioner and washer all constituting the top five most searched filters (Searches made in Q3 2022 for December 18, 2022 to January 2, 2023 check in dates).
This winter will continue to see guests visit destinations both near and far, seeking sun, sand and water. The top five booked categories by Indians this winter are tropical, national park, pool, beach and iconic cities.
Most searched for domestic destinations by Indian travellers on Airbnb this Q3:
For shorter getaways, Indians are enjoying reconnecting with domestic destinations.
When comparing Q3 2022 with pre-pandemic Q3 2019, overall nights booked in India grew by almost half, while domestic nights booked grew by almost 80 per cent.
The North East region has proved to be a trending destination.
Airbnbs search data shows an spike of over 450 per cent in searches for stays in Meghalaya, over 400 per cent for Assam and almost 300 per cent for Nagaland from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022.
Globally, the top-searched for overseas country destinations by Indians on Airbnb this Q3 were:
United Kingdom
Canada
United Arab Emirates
United States
France
Germany
Switzerland
Italy
Netherlands
Turkey
Most searched for destinations in Asia Pacific by Indians on Airbnb this Q3 were:
Indonesia
Vietnam
Singapore
Australia
Thailand
Malaysia
South Korea
Japan
New Zealand
Philippines
The most searched for overseas cities by Indians on Airbnb this Q3 include:
London
Dubai
Paris
Toronto
New York
Bangkok
Amsterdam
Istanbul
Barcelona
Bali
Across the country, domestic destinations most searched for by Indians this Q3 2022 continue to be:
Maharashtra
Karnataka
Delhi
Goa
Tamil Nadu
Kerala
Pondicherry
Himachal Pradesh
Uttarakhand
Rajasthan
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
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