Indians 2nd among 'Bleisure' travellers globally: Study

With 72 per cent Indian travellers extending their business trips in 2018, they have been ranked second among 'Bleisure' travellers across 31 countries, according to a study.

Indians are second to Thai travellers (80 per cent) and more than the global average (51 per cent), a Booking.com study has revealed.

Bleisure is a new trend which means business and leisure trips.

Booking.com conducted the study during October-November 2018 among 53,492 respondents, including 1,852 Indians, across 31 markets who had travelled at least once in past 12 months.

Nearly, two-thirds of Indian travellers (65 per cent) said they have been on a domestic business trip, which is the highest globally ahead of Indonesians (62 per cent) and Chinese (62 per cent).

In addition, more than half (58 per cent) of Indian travellers reported that they had been on an international business trip in 2018, it said.

This is more than double the international standard (25 per cent) and the highest among the 31 markets surveyed, it added.

When travelling for work, Indians also claimed to enjoy business trips most of all the nationalities surveyed.

About 83 per cent Indian business travellers rates business travelling 7 out of 10 or higher, compared to 58 per cent global travellers giving similar ratings.

Similarly, Indian business travellers are most positive of all the nationalities surveyed when asked whether they are able to enjoy destinations on their business trips.

About 76 per cent of Indian travellers said they often get to enjoy their travel destination compared to 56 per cent of global travellers.

Lastly, the study also revealed that in some of the scenarios Indian business travellers are most anxious about travelling.

Almost 55 per cent of them have expressed their concerns over the prospect of accommodations having received fake reviews and misleading photos, followed by 53 per cent feeling apprehensive about their personal details being stolen or no confirmation of their bookings.

"We are witnessing a steady rise in 'Bleisure' trips being taken by Indian business travellers for both domestic and international destinations. We're likely to see this trend continue to grow in the near future, with the potential to help boost the Indian travel industry to scale further heights," Booking.com Country Manager of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives - Ritu Mehrotra said.