BackMore Indians likely to travel to US this year: Yatra survey
The Yatra survey also shows a 208% increase in Indians planning to travel to Europe compared to last year
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New Delhi: The Donald Trump administration, which has slapped a travel ban on over half a dozen countries, has not dampened summer travel plans of Indians who are headed to the country in large numbers, a survey by travel portal Yatra.com showed.
“There is a doubling in the percentage of people looking to travel to the US this year vs the results of last year’s survey," said Sharat Dhall, president of Yatra.com.
Air India has already said its bookings have jumped sharply even after the US banned carrying certain electronic devices on flights starting from some Middle Eastern countries. Significant international traffic from and to India is funnelled via airlines like Emirates, Qatar and Etihad.
The survey also shows a 208% increase in Indians planning to travel to Europe compared to last year though the number for South East Asia has seen a sharp decline.
Overall, Yatra says its data showed demonetisation has had no major impact on travel plans as nearly 90% respondents are planning a summer vacation this year as opposed to 83% in 2016.
Luxury travel has also witnessed a sharp rise with about 48% of Indians willing to spend more than Rs50,000 per person on travel this summer versus 18% last year.
However to minimize the impact of demonetisation on vacations, over 80% are reducing the number of days and compromising on accommodation. In India, hill stations topped the list, followed by Kerala and Goa.
What is also fuelling more air travel are cheaper airfares. Low fuel prices has helped airlines offer attractive price points.
“The surge in international travel highlights that things are back to normal and also underlines that millennials are relatively intrepid and unlikely to be phased by economic problems or political unrest. Helped by relatively low airfares, there has been a shift in the passengers from rail to air. This is on account of continued low oil prices and an increase in the capacity by both new entrants and the incumbent players," Dhall said.
Family trips also increased to 50% from 45% last year.
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