Booking.com sees a high desire for travel as the world gets ready for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023
- Seven out of the top 10 most searched domestic destinations by Indian travellers from October 1 to November 20, 2023, include host cities New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
- The top-5 cricketing nations visiting India from October 1 to November 20, 2023 include the UK, Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
- Cricket enthusiasts are also looking at alternative accommodations during the match period with preferred accommodation types for travellers going to India from October 1 to November 20, 2023, including hotels followed by resorts, homestays, guest houses and apartments.
INDIA, October 5, 2023: The travel industry has seen a remarkable transformation over time, confirming the evolving choices and lifestyles of travellers. The contemporary traveller is seeking an immersive experience with sports and attending tournaments, marking sports tourism as a prominent and rapidly growing trend. Booking.com, one of the world’s leading digital travel brands, has revealed in its APAC Travel Confidence Report 2023 that more than half (56%) of Indians are looking forward to attending a major event, including sports tournaments, this year.
Enthusiasm from diverse corners of the globe
Mega sporting events, such as the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 – which Booking.com is the official Accommodations Booking Partner, have a remarkable potential to bring together fans from all over the world, fostering a sense of shared enthusiasm. Booking.com data shows a significant rise in inbound travel, with flight searches from cricketing nations to India showing a 15% y-o-y growth with departures between October 1 and November 20, 2023.
As per Booking.com flight data:
- The top-5 cricketing nations visiting India from October 1 to November 20, 2023 include the UK, Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand and Sri Lanka
- Australia shows a 31% increase in searches to India for departure dates in October as compared to the previous month (September).
- England shows a 10% increase in searches to India for departure in October compared to the month prior (September).
Ahmedabad: The hotspot
As the highly anticipated India vs. Pakistan cricket match draws near, Indian travellers are filled with excitement. This palpable thrill is fueling a notable spike in air travel searches for the host city, demonstrating a strong connection between eagerness for sports and travel enthusiasm.
- Delhi-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Ahmedabad are the top searched routes for October 13 and 14.
- Ahmedabad, the host city for the match, has soared to the second-highest searched routes for October 13 and 14, surpassing its traditional standing. Ahmedabad seldomly makes it to the top 20 route on a normal day.
- Ahmedabad is seeing a 1550% increase in searches for stays as compared to the same time last year.
Commenting on the trends, Santosh Kumar, Country Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com said, “Sports tourism is a rapidly growing sector in India and is capturing hearts as well as mindshare. Events like the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 hold immense potential for boosting tourism in the host cities of our nation and provide a great opportunity for the destination to showcase its hospitality and culture. It is good to see that travellers from across the world are visiting India during this momentous time in cricket history.”
Passion for travel meets sports
The most intriguing insight remains to be that seven out of the ten most searched destinations from October 1, 2023, to November 20, 2023, are the host cities of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023.
- Top searched domestic destinations by Indian travellers travelling in India from October 1, 2023, to November 20, 2023: New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Puducherry, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Goa
- Top searched domestic destinations for flights between October 1, 2023, and November 20, 2023: Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Varanasi, Kolkata, Kochi, Chennai and Ahmedabad
- Top searched accommodation types in India from October 1, 2023, to November 20, 2023: hotel, resort, homestay, guest house and apartment
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