Swachh Bharat impact: Safety, cleanliness most important for Indians in selecting vacation, finds survey

Mumbai: As more and more Indians are becoming evolved travellers, factors like safety and cleanliness have become important for them while selecting a vacation destination, according to a survey. “Till about a couple of years ago, the top factor was always the overall cost and discounts, which has now been replaced by larger concerns like safety (for 95 percent respondents) and cleanliness (93 percent), further driven by great weather conditions and positive reviews from fellow travellers,” Expedia India marketing head Manmeet Ahluwalia said quoting the Flip Flop Survey 2017. The survey was conducted online among 15,363 respondents over 18 years of age in May across 17 countries, including North America, Europe, South America and Asia Pacific. “Besides this, there is a rising trend for selecting destinations with baby-sitting services and kids-friendly or family-friendly activities, so that the couple also gets to spend some lone time together,” Ahluwalia said. [caption id=“attachment_3369116” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative photo. Getty Images[/caption] The survey revealed that many Indians also decide a destination which has adult-only resorts and activities (56 percent), a destination with a lot of singles (51 percent) and with beaches that allow visitors to go nude (46 percent). Most appealing aspects of a beach vacation for Indian travellers are relaxation (72 percent), spending time with family or friends (72 percent), forgetting the routine (55 percent), escape the city (53 percent), partying (43 percent), potential for holiday romance (45 percent), escaping the winter blues (21 percent) and getting sun tanned (21 percent), the survey said. Social media, Ahluwalia said, is emerging as a strong driving force in creating vacation happiness, with Indians being number one globally in always taking selfies (22 percent), posting photos on social media (22 percent), checking in on social media (21 percent) and connecting with others through social media (19 percent). Further, the survey also found that most Indians started their preparations to get ‘beach ready’ one or two months before (32 percent) while about 11 percent started preparations three to four months before the actual dates of their trip. On an average, Indians spend maximum time on buying vacation-specific outfits, gym preparation or workout and dieting while getting ready for a beach vacation, the survey mentioned.