Here is where Indians are travelling for the upcoming holiday season

December officially marks the beginning of the holiday season and Booking.com, one of the world’s leading online travel companies, has released its latest search data trends that sheds light on Indian travellers’ preferred destinations during this time1. With most travel restrictions lifted and the world opening up again, it marks a promising return of travel for Indian travellers who are ready to get back out there and make the most of their holidays.

As per the Booking.com APAC Travel Confidence Index released earlier, beach, nature/mountains and road trips are among the top 5 most preferred trip types by Indian travellers and this is reflective in the most searched destinations for the upcoming holiday season. Data from Booking.com reveals that Indian travellers prefer hill stations, beaches and historical destinations when it comes to domestic travel with Pondicherry topping the list followed by Lonavala and Manali.

Puducherry and Goa featured as the most preferred beach destinations
Udaipur and Jaipur featured as the most preferred historical destinations
Lonavala, Manali, Munnar and Shimla featured as the most preferred hill stations

Top 10 most searched destinations by Indian travellers for domestic travel with check in dates between December 24, 2022 to January 2, 2023.

Puducherry
Lonavala
Manali
Udaipur
Mumbai
Jaipur
Goa
Bengaluru
Munnar
Shimla

Exploring the world is back on the list again for Indians. When it comes to international travel, Indians are searching for metropolitan cities to celebrate the festive season and ring in the new year. Bangkok and Singapore continue to be South-East Asia’s most popular destinations, while Dubai remains at the top as the most popular destination for Indian travellers.

Top 10 most searched international destinations by Indians with check in dates between December 24,2022 to January 2, 2023.

Dubai, UAE
Bangkok, Thailand
Singapore, Singapore
London, UK
Paris, France
Patong Beach, Thailand
North Male, Maldives
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Phuket, Thailand
Ubud, Bali

When it comes to the top 15 searched destinations searched by global travellers overall for the holiday season, Paris, London and Dubai are the most searched destinations.

Top 15 most searched destinations globally by all travellers with check in dates between December 24, 2022 to January 2, 2023Paris, France
London, UK
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Roma, Italy
Tokyo, Japan
Barcelona, Spain
Prague, Czech Republic
Wien, Austria
New York, USA

Santosh Kumar, Country Manager, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com said, “The last few years have taught us that travel should not be taken for granted. After two years of travel restrictions, travellers are feeling overwhelmingly more optimistic about travelling. It is encouraging to see Indian travellers exploring different destinations both within India and abroad with a more positive outlook towards travel. As people remain enthusiastic and book their holidays, Booking.com will continue to make it easier for everyone to create their unique travel memories as they experience what these different destinations have to offer during the year end and beyond.”