Travel searches in India for international destinations have surged in the lead up to Diwali celebrations, increasing almost 50% year-on-year.
Travel search engine Wego reports the Indian festival – celebrated across the world today – showed travellers were making last minute travel plans across a variety of international destinations, including Australia, according to The Times of India newspaper.
"We have witnessed a growing interest in a variety of international destinations from Indian travellers throughout the year, outside of the traditionally popular locations," Wego India, managing director Jackson Fernandez told the paper.
"Travellers in this country are becoming far more adventurous and they spend a great deal more time online researching alternate travel experiences, especially through their smartphones.
"These results indicate that tourism offices are becoming more innovative with their destination marketing strategies successfully capturing the attention of Indian travellers. Airlines too have introduced attractive and competitive pricing structures to lure more travellers to international destinations," Fernandez said.
The largest growth by country was for long haul destinations including Australia, with the paper reporting 52 countries experienced growth in outbound travel from India this year. The paper reported that travellers in Delhi topped the number of outbound international flight searches by user, followed by Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.
“Although this annual festival is one of the largest in the country, it appears that many travellers are happy to leave travel planning until closer to the event," Fernandez said.
