Goibibo's Market Study: Millennials Pick Culturally Rich Destinations, Indulge in Weekend Getaways and Choose Premium Properties

Young Indians are back to reclaiming life after spending 18 months working from home, spending extra time in the kitchen and taking care of household chores, celebrating virtual gathering parties and more. With normalcy gradually returning to everyday lives, young Indians are looking forward to reward and celebrate their enduring spirit by treating themselves a bit like royals at some of the culturally rich destinations across the country.

As per a recent market and on-platform study conducted by Goibibo, 50% travellers opted to explore and indulge in the unmatched cultural experiences in Agra, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Mysore, Udaipur and Gwalior. Amongst these, Jaipur was the most travelled to city with 24% travellers choosing a quick weekend getaway to the city of brilliant magnificent forts and Rajputana charm. The study further indicates that 35% of the travellers chose to holiday at beach or riverside properties in Goa, Pondicherry, Rishikesh, and Daman & Diu; and the rest travelled to enjoy the highlands of Manali, Shimla, Darjeeling, Lonavala, Srinagar, Coorg etc.

Bookings on Goibibo indicate that premium accommodation category has seen nearly 150% increase in bookings when compared to bookings made in February 2020 - further indicating that the appetite to splurge on premium and luxurious stays has increased exponentially amongst the young post the pandemic. Inching close, the mid-segment has seen a jump of 64% in comparison to pre-COVID days. What’s also interesting to note is that 90% of the bookings at mid to luxury properties were made for weekend getaways and short-haul trips. 

Commenting on the insights, Sunil Suresh, Chief Marketing Officer at Goibibo shared, “Hills and beach holidays have been a perineal favourite of all however, it’s interesting to see that post the pandemic, one in every two young Indian opted to travel to a culturally rich destination to experience royalty and country’s rich cultural heritage. This appetite was further supported by availability of various value-adds and hotel booking offers available on platforms like ours - that made the deal of holidaying at luxurious, royal stays more lucrative and within budget. As the winter holiday season approaches we are confident of seeing a consistent month-on-month surge in bookings to all travel landscapes - be it, hills, beaches or culturally rich destinations.”

As the festive and winter holiday season approaches, young travellers have already begun searching and booking travel 30 to 45 days in advance. Currently, 60% of the total advance bookings are led by bookings to Goa, Manali, Darjeeling, Udaipur, Shimla, Gangtok, Agra, Jaipur, Amritsar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Srinagar and a few more destinations.