World Tourism Day: Jaipur, Goa, Kochi to be most popular leisure destinations

Air travel taking a backseat, combined with the opening up of many state borders to welcome tourists once again has led to the rise in demand for domestic leisure destinations, as a getaway from city life.

According to a data-backed predictive analysis, OYO predicts 'India's Next Destinations' that brings to light the country's upcoming leisure destinations for travellers. Here are the top destinations set to power the country's tourism industry back on track.

Jaipur, followed by Goa and Kochi are set to become India's top leisure destinations in October, November and December 2020

What's hot for the coming long weekend: With October 2 long weekend on the horizon, the report reveals that travellers are opting for staycations across India's beach destinations – with Goa topping the list, followed by the seaside resort town of Digha in West Bengal. Travellers are also opting for Jaipur, Pondicherry, Agra, Tirupati, among others.

Rise in pilgrimages: Interestingly, the report reveals that Indians will turn to faith during these tough times. The trend forecasts an upswing in demand for the alluring, holy cities of India, including Varanasi, Shirdi and Haridwar.

Road trips are here to stay: The data predicts that most leisure destinations to rule the roost in the latter half of the year are within a driving distance from mainstream cities, such as Jaipur and Udaipur for Delhiites, Goa and Shirdi for Mumbaikars, Mysore for Bangaloreans, among others.

Given the reality around Covid-19, leisure travel took a backseat to business or essential travel in the past couple of months, leaving little room for recovery of predominantly tourist destinations. However, on the brighter side, with each unlocking phase and the reopening of states, there's a positive upswing for consumers aspiring to travel in the next three months. As per OYO's consumer use cases, 56percent of consumers will be travelling for leisure while 43 percent would travel for business.

When asked about their next travel destination, most respondents opted for Kerala, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan. Amongst these, 45 percent of leisure travelers would prefer hill stations like Shimla, Mussoorie while the remaining 55 percent of leisure travelers would prefer non-hill station destinations like Goa, Agra, and Jaipur.

The data further highlights that 56 per cent of consumers would travel via private vehicles to nearby locations, with family or friends, preferably between the duration of 1-3 days..