44% Indians Prefer To Travel Off-season To Avoid Rush: Report

<p>The holiday season is now over but what about a special holiday deal? How many of us are ready to hop on a fabulous holiday package? A new travel trend survey says most of us prefer to travel offseason to avoid rush in order to get better deals on flights and on hotels. The survey covers Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad.<br>&nbsp;<br>While 44 per cent of the respondents prefer to travel offseason to avoid rush, 57 per cent Indians book activities in advance to avoid wasting time by standing in long queues for tickets to theme parks and museums.<br>&nbsp;<br>"Holiday activities are picking up amongst Indian travelers. This is evident from the fact that almost half of them decide the activities and then plan their destination. The traveler evolution is happening at a faster pace now that they have access to vast amount of information available at review sites, OTAs and met search portals. They have much more clarity than 5 years back and play a critical role in travel planning. While 56 per cent Indians preferred to travel in peak season, 44 per cent chose to travel off season. "More than budgets, they are anxious about wasting time, standing in long queues for tickets to theme parks and museums (22%), with uncertainty on ticket availability as well," said Vikram Malhi, Managing Director, Asia, Expedia.<br>&nbsp;<br>A large number of people (62 per cent) decide the destination first and then plan activities, Delhi is leading in the index with 72 per cent followed by Pune (70 per cent), Bangalore (69 per cent) and Mumbai (68 per cent).<br>&nbsp;<br>Most of the respondents (48 per cent) are interested in cultural events such as Carnivals, Oktoberfest and Tomatina festival, followed by city-specific activities and cultural performances (55 per cent), 47 per cent Indians want to discover unexplored destinations and 48 per cent travelers talk and interact more with the locals. On the other hand, some of them enjoy adventure sports whereas 21 per cent are curios collector.<br><br>(BW Online Bureau)</p>