More Indians are planning to take an international holiday this summer, as a strong rupee boosts consumer confidence.
This is the verdict of major Indian online travel agency Yatra.com, which conducted a study into Indian travel plans for the coming summer season.
While last year a weak rupee saw most Indian travellers opt for a domestic break, this year a stronger currency is leading 89% Indians to consider making international travel plans, according to the survey.
Of these, 78% of travellers said they were hoping for the rupee to rise further before making firm plans, while 16% said they were willing to go even if the rupee stayed unchanged. The remaining 6% said they were undecided on their travel plans.
“As compared to last year, where we saw the rupee devalue to over INR68 to the US dollar, the strong resurgence of the rupee to INR59 this year has kick-started a significant surge in overseas travel due to attractive savings on air tickets. We have observed an increase of over 32% in travellers booking our international holiday packages this year,” said Sharat Dhall, president of Yatra.com.
The survey revealed that Europe, the US and the Southeast Asian countries are the destinations of choice for Indian outbound travellers, followed by Turkey and Mauritius.
But despite the increased confidence, Indian travellers are still seeking out bargains this summer. Yatra.com found that 46% of travellers would prefer spending less than INR10,000 (US$169) on hotel stay, and only 5% were willing to spend more than INR40,000 on their accommodation. But 49% said they would consider upgrading their hotel due to the rupee appreciation.
The Yatra.com survey was conducted among 4,000 individuals, 71% of whom were either professionals or self-employed.
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