Domestic travel now makes up over half the travel routes in India

BENGALURU : Indians have significantly cut back on travel this year, when compared to 2019, as a majority of them travelled within the country and stuck to short-distances rather than long routes, said industry experts.

After studying travel patterns in the last few months, Booking.com calculated that the average distance Indians travelled between June and August 2020 is down 56% compared with the same period last year, which is slightly lower than the global average of 63%. When looking back at the same time last year, Indian travellers journeyed on average 1,786 km per booking. In 2020, that distance has dropped to just 780 km per booking.

The survey also showed that the share of domestic travel has gone up significantly in 2020 when compared to last year. More than half (67%) of the total distance travelled by Indians between 1 June and 31 August 2020 was within the country, compared to only 34% during the same period of 2019.