With vaccination drive against covid-19 gathering steam across the world and restrictions on movements easing gradually, many millennials are keen on taking an international holiday this summer, according to a national survey.
The online survey, which was done with over 6,000 millennials during January in partnership with seven national associations, including IATO, TAAI, ICPB, ADTOI, OTOAI, ATOAI and SITE, found that 52% millennials are eager to take an international holiday this summer as covid-19 vaccine ushered in hope that the end of covid-19 is near.
As per the survey by BOTT (Business of Travel Trade) Travel Sentiment Tracker, 75% millennials would prefer to go to foreign destinations with fewer covid-19 cases, while 71% would opt for destinations with defined protocols for the pandemic to avoid unnecessary hassles.
The industry finds survey findings encouraging. The findings, they believe, will generate more confidence in an industry, which is currently disappointed by being ignored in the Union Budget.
"However, inbound and outbound are two verticals of travel that go hand in hand. We hope the government will look into opening up borders in India soon, and so will other countries," Travel Agents Association of India president and the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality vice- chairperson Jyoti Mayal said.
The survey also showed that 62% millennials would prefer Thailand, followed by Singapore (58%), theUAE (52%), Maldives (46%) and Saudi Arabia (40%) in the short-haul category of foreign destinations.
Malaysia and Indonesia are chosen by 39% millennials, Sri Lanka by 36%, Bhutan, 31%, Turkey, 28%, and Seychelles, 24% coming close among the top preferred short-haul foreign destinations, it noted.
In the long-haul category, the top-ranked international destinations include France (53%), Germany (51%), Australia (50%), Switzerland (49%), the US (46%), Britain (45%), Canada (44%), and Japan (38%).
The ongoing vaccine drive coupled with dropping covid-19 cases in India has instilled confidence in travellers, especially the tired millennials, according to Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) President Riaz Munshi.
"The road to complete recovery is long and tough but we are definitely seeing an uptick in trip-planning and requests right now for the holidays and into 2021, as well as far-flung international trips. Many of our members are planning trips for 2021 and 2022 because they know demand will be high in popular destinations eventually,” he added.
The survey showed that 40% millennials are open to spend between ₹2-5 lakh for their holidays, while 35% would spend between ₹5-10 lakh.
Around 34% millennials would like to book luxury hotels with limited inventory while 25% each would go for boutique and budget properties, it said.
