'India ranks 4th among world's most vacation-deprived nations'

Mumbai, Nov 22: India is the fourth most vacation-deprived nation globally, with 65 per cent saying they feel very or somewhat vacation-deprived, according to a survey.

About 65 per cent of Indians feel they feel very or somewhat vacation-deprived, and 20 per cent said they are very vacation-deprived, full service online travel site Expedia's '2015 Vacation Deprivation' survey has revealed.

UAE topped the list of most vacation-deprived countries in 2015 (76 per cent), followed by Malaysia (73 per cent) and Singapore (71 per cent).

If they had more vacation days, most Indians (67 per cent) would travel to new places (rather than favourite or usual ones), it revealed.

The annual 2015 Vacation Deprivation survey is about vacation habits across multiple countries and continents.

It was conducted on behalf of Expedia by Northstar, a globally-integrated strategic insights consulting firm.

This survey was conducted online from October 6–22, 2015 across 26 countries of North America, Europe, South America and Asia Pacific among 9,273 employed adults aged 18 years and older.

Globally, Indians are the most likely (61 per cent) to associate vacationing a great deal with their overall happiness, followed by Thailand (56 per cent) and UAE (55 per cent), the survey revealed.

"Vacations play a critical role in creating a work-life balance as it reenergises people to be more focused at work (53 per cent Indians agree). According to the survey, 54 per cent of Indians would prefer more vacation days over a pay rise, the highest globally. About 61 per cent associate vacations a great deal with their overall happiness," Expedia India's Manmeet Ahluwalia said.

The survey found that vacations continue to outrank happiness derived from finding money, getting a tax refund, celebrating a birthday and even being told they look younger than they are.

Ahluwalia said, 94 per cent are ready to make sacrifices for just an extra day of vacation.

"The deprivation Indians are feeling may stem from the fact that 68 per cent of Indians have cancelled or postponed their vacation due to work commitments," he added.

The interesting fact, he said, is that while Indians are receiving on an average one additional vacation day this year (from 20 days last year to 21 days this year) and are more likely to say their bosses are supportive of them availing their vacation time than they were last year, they continue to avail fewer days than they receive (an average of 16 days this year and last year).

"This clearly shows that Indians are addicted to their work so much that they often choose to work even when they have earned their time off," he added.

Despite not availing all the vacation days they receive, 73 per cent Indians feel they deserve more vacation than they currently get, and that they should receive on an average 15 extra days, according to the survey.

Further, the survey noted that vacations are considered important to travellers' relationships with their significant others. This is particularly true in India (71 per cent strongly agree), Brazil (66 per cent) and Mexico (65 per cent).

PTI