Indians Most Anxious About WiFi Access During Vacation: Survey

Indians emerged as the top users of social media during vacation, according to findings of a recent tourism survey. Tourists from the country spend a lot of time uploading pictures and video to social media, shows a survey conducted by Expedia about their preference and behavior towards beach holidays.

Social media emerged as strong driving force in creating vacation happiness among Indians, with almost a quarter of the Indian tourists surveyed found to be obsessed with it. While 22 per cent participants engaged in taking selfies and an equal percentage posted photos online, the percentage of people checking social media and connecting with others through the platforms was found to be 21 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

In contrast, only nine per cent people were found to never posting photos on social media: while 12 per cent never checked social media.

Indians rank ahead of Thailand and Mexico when it comes to using social media while holidaying. Though they love to be connected all the time, it also means that they do not disconnect from work much.

Indians are globally most anxious on not being able to access WiFi or internet to check work e-mail (59 per cent). In fact, they lead in showing a preference for an airline that offers in-flight WiFi (33 per cent).

Hence, 14 per cent Indians are always working on a vacation, at No.1 globally, followed by the United States (seven per cent) and Brazil (six per cent).

The survey also highlighted that Indian travelers are more concerned with issues such as safety and cleanlines of the destination as compared to the cost factor now. “Flip-Flop Survey 2017 brings forth an interesting shift in preference of the Indian travelers while choosing a vacation destination,” Manmeet Ahluwalia, the marketing head of Expedia in India, said in a statement. “Till about a couple of years ago, the top factor was always the overall cost and discounts, which has now been replaced by larger concerns like safety and cleanliness, further driven by great weather conditions and positive reviews from fellow travelers. Besides this, there is a rising trend for selecting destinations with baby-sitting services and kids-friendly/family-friendly activities, so that the couple also gets to spend some alone time together.”

The survey was conducted with 15,363 respondents across 17 countries (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, India and Thailand)

The survey also showed that even though Indians are social media obsessed beach-goers who spend the majority of their time uploading pictures and video, 24 per cent of their compatriots find it very annoying. — (With IANS inputs)