Bitten by travel bug, Indians restive to get moving: Study

ZESTMONEY, India's leading and fastest-growing EMI financing and buy now, pay later (BNPL) network, has revealed the findings from a customer survey conducted to understand Indians' travel plans and preferences for this summer vacation. The survey elicited responses from over 2,000 participants, most of whom were millennials and Gen Z, from across India.

According to the survey, 70 per cent of respondents stated that they have plans to travel during the summer, indicating a pent-up demand from the last two years of the pandemic. While 60 per cent of them said they would travel domestically, about 40 per cent said they were most likely to travel internationally in the next three months as the pandemic restrictions have been lifted.

While the majority of respondents said that budget-friendly travel would be their top priority, a large number of people say they don't mind spending more for the best travel experience. The need to escape everyday life, the desire to learn new things, need to break the monotony of the last two years and make new experiences emerged as the strong motivational factors behind the travel plans, according to the survey.

A significant number of respondents (63 per cent) said that they would finance their travel using EMI/pay-later options, while 33 per cent revealed that they would dip into their savings to travel. Commenting on the survey findings, Lizzie Chapman, CEO and Co-founder of ZestMoney, said, "We are seeing a renewed and an increased interest among Indian customers, who are overcoming the pandemic resistance and are embracing travel passionately again. With the economy opening up and Covid restrictions easing, people do want to make the best of their holidays. EMIs/Pay Later are emerging as a preferred option as it not only offers the convenience to plan budgets better but also help them make the most of their travel plans."

Chapman further added, "We have seen phenomenal growth in the number of travel transactions on our platform with a 150 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth in the March quarter. As the holiday season has begun, we expect to double the growth in this quarter. This is the best travel business that we have seen in the last 2 years! Most of the transactions in this category are driven by our flagship zero-interest and no-cost 'Pay-in-3' option, followed by offerings with six months and nine months tenure. Merchants are also increasingly taking to enabling EMI/pay-later options and we are working with them to offer the best deals to our customers. Travel is poised to become one of the largest categories for us."

While Goa continued to be the most preferred destination in India, Kashmir, Ladakh, and Kerala emerged as the other popular destinations for this summer. Shimla, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jaipur, Agra, Ooty, and Dehradun also figured on the bucket list. Maldives, Dubai, and Thailand emerged as the top three international destinations. Europe, the USA, Switzerland, the UK, Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mauritius, Hong Kong, and Singapore were among the other popular international destinations. 65 per cent of them surveyed said the ongoing geopolitical tensions (especially between Russia and Ukraine) won' t have a major impact on their plans. When asked if business travel was picking up in their work organisations, 60 per cent of respondents replied in the affirmative indicating normalcy returning to the corporate world.

India is a huge country with multiple climactic zones. While South India, for example, has one of the most intense monsoons in the world (and, thus, is best avoided from about May until October), Himalayan India has frigid winters and is actually at its most pleasant during the summer months, rain clouds notwithstanding. It's impossible to say when the best time to spend one month in India is until you get a more specific idea of where in the country you want to visit.

Depending on how you enjoy Mumbai, you could spend at least three days in India within the city. Delhi also happens to be the gateway to the Taj Mahal, India's most iconic tourist attraction. Jaipur, which is just five hours by train from Delhi. Stay within its terracotta-coloured walls, where attractions include the City Palace, Observatory and the regal Hawa Mahal, or ride an elephant up the nearby Amber Fort. From Jaipur, continue heading into the desert to the 'blue city' of Jodhpur, home to the iconic Mehrangarh Fort.

Other Places to Travel in India include Chennai and Tamil Nadu, Kolkata and West Bengal, Darjeeling and the Himalayan Foothills, Rishikesh, aka the Yoga City, Kashmir, Ladakh and Leh, Amritsar and the Pakistan Border Area.