New Delhi, India: Expedia®, the world’s largest full-service online travel agency, today released the results of the 2018 Flight & Hotel Etiquette study, an annual survey on Flight and hotel behaviour of travellers across 23 countries in the world.

Indians are #1 globally to often engage in a conversation, when sitting next to someone they don’t know (59%) and probably the reason why 70% Indian travellers also dread sitting next to someone who talks too much. Indians find seat kicker/bumper/grabbers (32%, #1), inattentive parents (30%, #1) and audio insensitive passengers (30%), most annoying in a flight or at the airport. Despite these factors, Indians agree that generally, airline travel is fun and exciting (89%, #1), and for most part, fellow passengers are considerate of other passengers (80%).

Indian travellers prefer big chain hotel (29%) followed by vacation/holiday rental (22%, #1), boutique hotel (15%) and short-term room rental (11%, #2) the most. The least preferred accommodations include hostels (39%) and bed and breakfasts with shared bathrooms (29%).

Manmeet Ahluwalia, Marketing Head, Brand Expedia in India says “The findings are a testimony of the growth in traffic being experienced by the aviation industry, as Indians are the 3rd most frequent travellers in Asia-Pacific region, with average 7.6 flights per year after Thailand and Japan. Indians are also increasing shifting to technology as 67% Indians check-in online (#7) while 18% check-in on mobile (#1) and the country stands at #2 in the number of people using the boarding pass on a mobile device (29%) after Thailand”.