Safety, cleanliness most important for Indians in selecting

As more and more Indians are becoming evolved travellers, factors like safety and cleanliness have become important for them while selecting a vacation destination, according to a survey.

"Till about a couple of years ago, the top factor was always the overall cost and discounts, which has now been replaced by larger concerns like safety (for 95 per cent respondents) and cleanliness (93 per cent), further driven by great weather conditions and positive reviews from fellow travellers," Expedia India marketing head Manmeet Ahluwalia said quoting the 'Flip Flop Survey 2017'.

The survey was conducted online among 15,363 respondents over 18 years of age in May across 17 countries, including North America, Europe, South America and Asia Pacific.

"Besides this, there is a rising trend for selecting destinations with baby-sitting services and kids-friendly or family-friendly activities, so that the couple also gets to spend some lone time together," Ahluwalia said.

The survey revealed that many Indians also decide a destination which has adult-only resorts and activities (56 per cent), a destination with a lot of singles (51 per cent) and with beaches that allow visitors to go nude (46 per cent).

Most appealing aspects of a beach vacation for Indian travellers are relaxation (72 per cent), spending time with family or friends (72 per cent), forgetting the routine (55 per cent), escape the city (53 per cent), partying (43 per cent), potential for holiday romance (45 per cent), escaping the winter blues (21 per cent) and getting sun tanned (21 per cent), the survey said.

Social media, Ahluwalia said, is emerging as a strong driving force in creating vacation happiness, with Indians being number one globally in always taking selfies (22 per cent), posting photos on social media (22 per cent), checking in on social media (21 per cent) and connecting with others through social media (19 per cent).

Further, the survey also found that most Indians started their preparations to get 'beach ready' one or two months before (32 per cent) while about 11 per cent started preparations three to four months before the actual dates of their trip.

On an average, Indians spend maximum time on buying vacation-specific outfits, gym preparation or workout and dieting while getting ready for a beach vacation, the survey mentioned.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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