Most Indian travellers prefer to book their accommodation closer to the date of travel in comparison to global trends says a survey by Booking.com. A recent survey done among 21,500 respondents, across 29 different markets revealed that most Indians do not book their accommodation well in advance.

When asked to choose between the flexibility of making plans at the last minute or the security of having everything arranged in advance, almost three-quarters, 71 per cent of global travellers, indicate that they prefer the security of booking in advance.

Weekend staycations

Commenting on the data, Ritu Mehrotra, Country Manager, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives at Booking.com, said “Travel now is increasingly becoming diverse, with increased internet access, coupled with a strong motivation to experience new places. We now see continued momentum, it is no longer limited to long breaks, people now are also opting for weekend getaways and staycations. As a result, what we see is an extremely flexible travel schedule as opposed to rigid travel itineraries that leave no scope for alteration. We understand that not every vacation one takes is planned weeks in advance, and hence, we ensure that we always have multiple options for the traveller to choose from whether it is for a holiday they wish to take a month from now or as early as tomorrow. ”

Only 35 per cent of Indian travellers indicated that they preferred to book their vacation accommodation several weeks in advance. The survey revealed that only 20 per cent of the bookings were made more than one month in advance by Indian in comparison to 43 per cent of the global trend. 28 per cent of Indians said that they made accommodation bookings one week in advance in comparison to 16 per cent of the global trend.

Approximately 12 per cent Indian booked accommodation a the day before the travel in comparison to 5 per cent global travellers. Surprisingly, 5 per cent of Indian booked their accommodation on the day of travel itself in comparison to only 3 per cent on an average globally.

The countries where travellers preferred the highest level of flexibility were in Germany and the Netherlands at 40 per cent, with Argentina and Denmark at 38 per cent, Sweden at 37 per cent. Conversely, countries where a larger share of bookers attach more importance to the security of having everything arranged in advance of the travel are Taiwan at 89 per cent, followed by Hong Kong at 82 per cent, Japan at 81 per cent, China at 79 per cent and South Korea at 77 per cent.

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