Goa, Bali top lures for Indians this monsoon despite seasonal travel challenges

Goa and Bali are among the most searched domestic and international destinations for Indians during the monsoons, despite the seasonal travel challenges, according to a report. Though traditionally not considered a preferred travel period, monsoon travel has significantly grown in popularity and now has a permanent place in the annual tourism calendar. London, UK, Paris in France, Singapore and Pattaya in Thailand followed after Goa and Bali, in the most searched chart according to accommodation booking website Hotels.Com.

The website analysed the hotel searches made by Indian consumers for the period of July-August 2018. Further, the report revealed that New York in the US featured sixth in the list of people searching to escape the monsoons by travelling to interesting foreign locales while Dubai was seventh followed by Bangkok in Thailand, Santorini in Greece and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Also, destinations, including Phuket in Thailand, Edinburgh in Scotland, Moscow in Russia, Florence in Italy and Mykonos in Greece are coming up in the list of searches, it added. "The searches for new locations show that Indians are steadily moving away from the tried-and-tested holidays and are hungry to explore fresh destinations offering new, unique experiences," it added.

In India, Calangute in Goa topped the chart followed by the financial capital of the country Mumbai, New Delhi, Candolim in Goa, and Udaipur in Rajasthan.

Thiruvananthapuram and Munnar made it to the sixth and seventh position respectively, in the local list followed by Jaipur in Rajasthan, Srinagar and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir.

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Goa is the "uncontested winner in the top growth destinations category", with Colva, Arpora, Dona Paula and Cansaulim seeing a staggering 156 per cent, 153 per cent, 105 per cent and 57 per cent increase in searches, respectively, compared to last year.