New Delhi: Bhubaneswar should have reasons to celebrate as a leading global travel search engine has ranked the city among the top three trending destinations for Indian travellers during the current year.
The city has been ranked at the third place in a list of top 10 domestic and international destinations. While Phuket in Thailand took the pole position as the most preferred choice for Indian travellers with a search rate of 107 per cent, Indore in Madhya Pradesh came in close second with a search rate of 106 per cent.
The data indicated that more and more people had begun taking interest in Bhubaneswar and Odisha, thanks to the exposure the city has got from hosting global sporting events and an aggressive push by the state government for promoting tourism in Odisha, tour and travel industry experts felt.
The study was prepared by international travel portal KAYAK. It said the trending list was prepared after analysing the search data for economy flights.
The average return flight cost to Bhubaneswar, according to the portal, came at around Rs 7323. Cheaper flights, it said, played a key role in selection of destinations.
“In 2018, there was a spike in travel to offbeat international destinations due to low-cost airfares. Places like Istanbul, Moscow and Raleigh were amongst the top trending destinations of 2018. The average cost of flights for Phuket, Istanbul, Moscow and Bangkok was less than RS 35,000,” it said.
While travellers made the most of the cheaper air tickets, 48 per cent travelling to international destinations preferred to stay in 5-start hotel as compared to 35 per cent the previous year.
Among the Indian cities, Varanasi, Patna and Srinagar also remained among the top 10 trending cities for Indian travellers.
Tour experts said the just concluded Hockey World Cup has helped Bhubaneswar capture attention of both domestic and international travellers. Foreign tourist arrival surged 50 per cent during the World Cup. “They were captivated by the city and would act as ambassadors for Odisha back in their country. We are hopeful the inflow to only rise in the years ahead,” the operators noted.
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