International visitors increase, and more Indians travel home this year.
BANGALORE – Wego reveals that travellers in India are heading home this year for Diwali celebrations.
“In 2014, Indians showed a far greater interest in international destinations and outbound travel was extremely popular,” said Ashwin Jayasankar, General Manager, Wego India. “This year, there’s been a shift towards domestic cities, indicating many travellers are sticking closer to home.”
“This year is very similar to Diwali in 2013 where 98 percent of traffic to www.wego.co.in was for domestic travel,” he added. “We’ve seen a 19 percent drop in searches compared to last year for popular Indian holiday destinations such as Goa and Ooty, indicating that travellers are selecting to journey to their hometowns for Diwali.”
Indians are also planning their holidays earlier.
“Wego has experienced a 17 percent increase in Diwali related searches a month prior to Diwali, a little earlier compared to last year when the majority of travel planning was last minute,” Jayasanker said.
“The biggest movement we’ve seen is in international visitation during India’s biggest holiday festival, as Diwali starts to become a drawcard for international visitors,” Jayasanker continued. “We’ve seen a 13 percent increase in Diwali related searches for Jaipur, Varanasi, Amritsar and Kolkata, cities renowned for their beautiful and decorative Diwali celebrations.”
Last year, Singapore lead international choices, and while travelling abroad was not as popular this year, Dubai took over as the most popular international destination, followed by Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, London and then Singapore.
“It seems that Indians are far more prepared for Diwali this year, booking earlier and choosing to travel to their hometowns,” Jayasankar concluded. “Yet it seems we’ll be welcoming a greater number of tourists to share in our country’s biggest festival of the year.“
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