As Indians plan to ring in the New Year away from home, demand for domestic air travel has doubled from pre-pandemic levels in 2019 due to rising youth interest and a resurgence in group travel. said a key industry insider. .
Despite record airfares, skyrocketing hotel prices and high inflation leading to rising costs of living, domestic demand is strong. The country also said he hit an all-time high of 435,500 domestic air passengers per day on December 24, surpassing his pre-corona high of 420,000. December of that year.
The rising numbers have even led to complaints that major airports are choking recently, Intervention by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiradhitya Scindia Government agency of the second week of the month. Since then, airport congestion has eased.
Demand is not only domestic, but also for short-haul international destinations that facilitate travel, such as easier visa entry rules.
“A combination of unused vacations, on hold demand and positive sentiment are boosting domestic demand this season, more than 110% above pre-pandemic demand. And we are seeing strong demand from young professional/millennial couples in India, resulting in an average consumer age drop of about 10 years.”
However, this trend is not encouraging when it comes to inbound tourists, i.e. foreigners who choose India for leisure travel. According to Ajay Prakash, president of the Federation of Indian Travel Agents, inbound tourists are only about 30-35% of pre-pandemic numbers.
On the other hand, in the domestic sector, to go, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Kerala and Andaman continue to attract tourists. At the same time, data shared by travel service providers such as Cleartrip and Thomas Cook show that travel portals are showing increasing interest in Northeast and spiritual tourism to Varanasi, Phrayaguraj, Puri, Vaishnodevi, Ujjain and Tirupati.
SOTC Travel says it’s primarily interested in younger consumers, recording an 85% growth in spiritual travel in the pre-pandemic period.
This year has also witnessed a resurgence of people traveling in groups that have declined during the pandemic. An increase in the number of travelers booking in groups, which we have observed almost two years later.This trend is only seen after the pandemic, when the size of groups has decreased dramatically,” said the online travel portal EaseMyTrip. said Nishant Pitti, CEO and co-founder of
There is also demand for nearby international destinations with relaxed visa criteria for Indian passport holders. According to data shared by travel portal Cleartrip, Dubai, Bangkok, London, Phuket, Male and Singapore are the most popular destinations for Indians.
“Despite high fares/tariffs etc., there is demand and Indians are paying far more than they used to. Neighboring countries are also benefiting from Indians,” said Prakash, who heads the travel agency federation.
