New Delhi: With people already gearing up for their New Year’s travel plans, a new survey has revealed New Zealand to be their favourite destination for welcoming 2017.
According to Skyscanner’s latest study that unravels the favourite New Year destinations of the Indian traveler, New Zealand tops the charts with travel searches for the Pacific island nation having increased by 52 per cent over the past year.
“Crunching numbers from over 50 million users every month, New Zealand emerged as a clear favorite among Indian travelers, witnessing a growth of 52 per cent in travel searches from last year.
“With a host of airlines offering economical deals to the country, New Zealand is now well within the reach of the aspiring traveler,” says the study.
While the preferred destinations range across continents with an interesting mix of countries in the Asia Pacific, Europe and Middle East, in order to narrow down to places where Indians will be ushering in 2017, the survey drew upon comparisons between travel searches from 2015 and 2016.
Neighbouring Australia is the second most searched destination with an increase of 47 per cent in travel searches compared to last year.
Other popularly searched destinations include Malaysia and the United Kingdom which saw a surge of 28 and 15 per cent respectively since 2015.
“It is exciting to witness a change in the perspective of the Indian travelers. Moving away from the cliched holiday spots, Indians are willing to travel far and wide for seasonal holidays. Distance and budget are no longer considered constraints to plan a holiday,” says Reshmi Roy, Growth Manager, Skyscanner.
Offering a microscopic insight, the survey also highlights the travel emanating for New Year from Delhi.
“The Land of Down Under is the preferred holiday spot for Delhiites, with a whopping Year Over Year(YoY) increase of 120 per cent in searches,” the study revealed.
Australia is followed closely by travel queries for Malaysia and France which rose 101 per cent and 42 per cent respectively.
PTI
