Instead of get-togethers with friends or partying, GenZers and millennials want to ring in the new year travelling, says a new survey. For the majority of people, who have been stuck home since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, this will be their maiden trip in a long time.
Close to 60% people who participated in a survey conducted by the hostel chain Zostel were planning to travel for the first time since the lockdown. While half of the travellers preferred travelling with friends, to ensure safety, they want to limit their travel companions to one or two.
However, 40% didn’t mind travelling in groups of 2-5 people, about 7% said they wouldn’t mind travelling with 5-8 members, and only 1% were comfortable with having 10 people or more as travel companions.
The survey was carried out last week with 1,700 participants, in which half of the respondents were in the 18-25 age group, 37% comprised the 26-30 age group, 10% were in their early 30s, while the rest fell in the late-30s. About 60% of the respondents were male.
Destinations in the hills topped the list of favourites, with majority of the people wanting to visit Bir, Gangtok, Leh, Manali, McLeodganj, Mussoorie, and Rishikesh. Some other destinations people were eyeing were Gokarna, Wayanad, Pachgani, Vagamon, Shangarh, Varkala, Mashobra and Pushkar.
While remote work has allowed people to take extended holidays in destinations they always dreamt of staying for longer, for the year-ender holidays, most were looking at three days to a week’s stay at a place. Only 7% wanted to stay beyond 10 days. Besides travelling with friends, over a quarter people wanted to travel alone, while less than 10% said they wanted to travel with family.
Safety concerns and priorities also varied widely among the different age groups. While the 18-30 age group was concerned about cost, the 30-40 age group wanted to know more about social distancing and safety measures. Queries about internet connectivity and parking spot cut across age groups indicating that most would continue to log in to work and prefer travelling in a private vehicle.
Places that assure and offer these facilities are bound to receive more footfalls, says Dharamveer Singh Chouhan, Cofounder & CEO, Zostel. “As the year draws to an end, we expect that more and more people will be open to the idea of traveling without many apprehensions although safety precautions will not be relaxed,” he added.
