Monsoon travel surges among Gen Z, Millennials as off-season tourism gains momentum
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Monsoon, traditionally considered an off-season for travelling, is witnessing an increased demand from GenZs and Millennials flocking to explore adventure and scenic beauty, leveraging the advantage of low pricing and fewer crowds, according to industry experts."Being a traditionally low season for travel, Monsoon is the perfect time to embrace the great outdoors and experience travel at discounted rates with special offers from backwaters to wildlife safaris, biking trails, spiritual circuits to Ayurveda retreats," Thomas Cook (India) President and Country Head - Holidays, MICE, Visa, Rajeev Kale said in a statement.Monsoon holidays offer something for every traveller across segments of families, millennials, working professionals, groups of friends, couples and 'frolleagues', he said.According to Thomas Cook (India) data, monsoon holidays are gaining strong interest from young India's GenZ and Millennials, working professionals, couples, multigenerational families, a rising segment - 'frolleagues' (colleagues who double as friends)."The monsoon season is opening up exciting opportunities for travellers to experience India at its lush and vibrant best. We're also seeing a shift beyond metros, with growing demand from tier II and III cities."Micro-breaks, mini-cations and weekend getaways are becoming the new norm, as travellers seek shorter, more frequent holidays," SOTC Travel president and country head - Holidays and Corporate Tours, S D Nandakumar said. Monsoon travel is picking up pace: Cleartrip's PeekABoo reveals a 46 per cent surge in bookingsAs per PeekABoo, Cleartrip's exclusive travel trend tracker, monsoon travel bookings has surged by 46 per cent this year with tier I cities leading the charge, contributing a massive 78 per cent of all travellers."Mostly 24-30-year-olds, escaping the grind with short 3-day getaways, or as they call it, a 70-hour monsoon break instead of a 70-hour work week," according to PeekABoo data.Even with soaring demand, hotel rates are holding steady (just 3 per cent higher), and airfares are up 13 per cent, making travel still accessible, it added.Most travellers prefer short hotel stays (2 nights), while flight bookings show longer getaways averaging 7 days, it stated.Also, spontaneity is in (last-minute bookings up 14 per cent), so is early planning (up 10 per cent), the data added.ixigo Group Co-CEO Rajnish Kumar also said the monsoon season is seeing an unexpected surge in demand this year."Several factors, including unrest in destinations like Kashmir and broader geopolitical concerns, prompted a section of travellers to postpone their summer holiday plans. However, this pent-up demand is now spilling over into the monsoon, with flight bookings rising by 25-30 per cent YoY to emerging destinations like Port Blair, Tirupati, Udaipur, Coimbatore, and Dehradun," he said.Attractive monsoon sales by airlines and hotels are further fuelling this trend, offering value-driven deals and encouraging travellers to explore off-season getaways, he added.
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