Dubai, Thailand favourite Holi weekend getaways for Indians

Mumbai, March 20: As Indians are gearing up for the long weekend break on account of Holi and Good Friday, short- haul destinations like Dubai and Thailand have topped the list of popular global destinations.

Dubai and Thailand, popular tourist hubs, stood at number one and two positions, respectively, due to its short flying time from India, followed by Singapore, according to a MakeMyTrip report.

As per a latest travel major Thomas Cook India report, Dubai and Thailand were on the top of the chart of favourite international long weekend getaways.

The MakeMyTrip report observed that this being a shorter break compared to Christmas and new year, spends on domestic travel are 44 per cent lower while international spends stand at 67 per cent less. The report is based on actual booking made on MakeMyTrip website for the Holi and Good Friday weekend.

On the domestic front, Goa, Delhi, Mumbai are cities where Indian travellers are mostly heading to, it said. Compared to 2015 year-end vacations, Holi weekend bookings seen to be more impromptu, the survey showed.

About 68 per cent of customers have booked the travel within two months of travel date compared to 51 per cent travellers for the Christmas-New Year travel, it added. "We are witnessing an increased demand for the upcoming long weekend.

More people are travelling to domestic spots as compared to international locations. Interestingly, we are seeing the Holi weekend bookings to be more spontaneous as compared to 2015 year-end vacations," MakeMyTrip Chief Business Officer (Holidays) Ranjeet Oak said.

He said while Goa continues to top the domestic chart, many customers are also opting for destinations like Srinagar, Jaipur and Katra.

According to trends observed by Thomas Cook India based on actual booking made with it, while it is a regular practice to plan getaways to adjoining cities, recently it is seen that travellers are planning trips well in advance to multiple or short-haul foreign destinations by clubbing the long weekend with a couple of days leave.

PTI