Wednesday, February 1, 2012

TrAvEL Offbeat destinations will become the next big hit

The choice of holiday destinations in India as well as abroad is not going to change much. The UK tops the destination list outside the country, followed by Thailand, Singapore, the US and China. Rajasthan tops the list of luxury travellers within the country, closely followed by Kerala and Goa. Exclusivity, like most other luxury products, will be a key agenda. Travelling to offbeat, off-the-radar places is going to catch up with Indians like their global brethren. The Top 10 will remain the same, but if you go down the list, you will find places like South Africa, Vietnam or Cambodia coming up.

A common thread will be unique experiences, whether in terms of choosing a destination or finding a hotel or what you are doing on a holiday. Luxury travel is not only about immersing yourself in luxury for the sake of it...but they (destinations) are getting unique as well and I think that's going to be the trend. People really want to come back and talk about an experience they had which is different from others.

Travelling off-season, not only to sneak in some discount, but also to avoid crowds at major holiday destinations will be another trend. People are choosing to stay away from the Middle East due to the political upheaval in general, but the sovereign debt crisis in Europe might result in some nice deals in places like Greece and that will make such places more attractive.

Economic conditions back home have affected the travel pattern of Indians and it is going to stay that way for most of the year. The search for international destinations has declined in the past few months, whereas typically between September and December you see an across the board rise of around 25%. In the same time, the search for destinations within India has grown.

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