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Where Indians Plan To Travel On Long Weekends This August

As much as 86% of Indian travellers surveyed expressed desire to travel in the following 12 months, says Booking.com.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>A tourist standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea and mountains. (Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@echaparro?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Edgar Chaparro</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/travelling?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>)</p></div>
A tourist standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea and mountains. (Photo by Edgar Chaparro on Unsplash)

Religious places, hill stations, and beaches are on the itinerary as Indians prepare for travel on long weekends in August.

From weekend getaways like Lonavala to the U.S. rank among the preferred destinations, as the travel and tourism industry recovers from the pandemic, according to a survey by Booking.com.

August with its numerous festival holidays and extended long weekends makes it ideal to plan longer holidays, Ritu Mehrotra, regional commercial director, APAC at Booking.com, said in an Aug. 10 statement sharing the findings.

According to the survey, the most preferred destinations include:

  • Leisure: Lonavala, Pune and Kochi.

  • Religious: Tirupati, Shirdi and Rishikesh.

  • Historical: Jaipur, Udaipur and Agra.

  • Beaches: Pondicherry, Goa and Puri.

  • Hill stations: Ooty, Munnar and Kodaikanal.

  • Overseas: The U.K., the U.S. and France.

The preferred destinations also include metros like New Delhi and Mumbai, and religious and historic places including Varanasi and Agra.

And apart from the U.S., the U.K., and France, other preferred international travel hotspots for Indians are Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, the U.A.E. and Vietnam.

The APAC Travel Confidence Index report by Booking.com showed that 86% of Indians intend to travel in the coming 12 months. The travel optimism remained high with 70% accepting that disruptions may arise along the way due to the virus outbreak, while 78% considered leisure travel as important while keeping overall health and safety in consideration, the digital travel company said in the statement.

Hotels continue to be the top booked accommodation for Indians travelling within the country. However, alternative accommodations such as resorts, guesthouses, homestays, and hostels are also on the list.

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