Singapore most preferred destination for Indian travellers

Singapore has secured the top position in the list of most preferred overseas destination for Indian travellers in first half of this year, replacing Dubai, a Hotels.com’s Hotel Price Index (HPI) survey said.

The data is drawn from bookings made on the thousands of hotels on the Hotels.com websites worldwide.

Hotels.com is a leading online accommodation booking website with properties ranging from international chains and all-inclusive resorts to local favourites.

UAE’s populous city Dubai secured the number two position this year followed by Bangkok (Thailand).

The US and UK continue to enthrall Indian travellers as London and New York retained their fourth and fifth spot, respectively.

Other southeast Asian countries that saw maximum visitors were Hong Kong, Pattaya (Thailand) and Bali (Indonesia), the survey said.

Destinations such as Paris (France), which secured the eighth position in the first half of 2014, this year inched up by one rank to the seventh place followed by Hong Kong, Las Vegas at the eighth and ninth position, respectively.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which was the 10th spot on last year’s list was replaced by new entrant Bali in the first six months of 2015.

Meanwhile, foreign tourists continued to reserve the top two spots for Delhi and Mumbai as preferred destinations during the first half of 2015 in India, the report said.

IT hub Bengaluru replaced Goa bagging the third position.

Destinations such as Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Kolkata retained their fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth position, respectively.

Once the bastion of the Maratha Empire Pune that has now become an educational centre, was the new entrant at ninth spot ahead of Cochin at the 10th spot.

Thiruvananthapuram was ranked 10th making its debut on the chart.