Online Searches Surge by 33% ! Winter Wonderland Experiences Emerge as a Significant Trend

The emergence of Winter Tourism is reshaping travel trends for Indian travellers, with a growing preference for destinations that offer an ideal blend of festive charm, scenic beauty and outdoor adventures. The allure of winter landscapes, combined with Christmas and New Year celebrations, has become a significant draw, especially for working professionals seeking to utilise their annual leave; also multigenerational families, honeymooners, groups of friends and GenS/seniors. Recognizing this shift, Thomas Cook (India) Limited, and SOTC Travel, have launched an extensive range of ready-to-book, air-inclusive, land-only and customizable Winter Holidays, catering to all budgets and preferences, across top domestic and international destinations.

Showcasing the best of winter, the Companies’ portfolio features fun and exciting experiences – snowmobiling, snowboarding and tobogganing in Scandic Lapland; chasing the Northern Lights on husky safaris in Norway/Finland; skiing in the Swiss Alps or Nagano; ice skating, sleigh rides and carnival games in Georgia; exploring magical Christmas markets and festivities in Strasbourg, France— the “Capital of Christmas”, the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan.

Additionally, the Companies’ domestic winter portfolio offers a variety of experiences from snowy mountain escapes to cultural festivals. Soft adventure and winter activities like mountain biking/gondola rides in Gulmarg; ice skating/snowboarding in Shimla, skiing in Auli; winter festivals including Gujarat’s Rann Utsav or Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival; glamping in Rajasthan.

Top Winter Tourism trends:

• Growing demand for soft-adventure: skiing, snowshoe trekking, crab fishing safaris, snowboarding and snowmobiling, panoramic cable car ride and leisurely hikes across Europe’s Alpine regions of Switzerland, France, Austria and Germany, reindeer sleigh in Norway and horseback rides in Georgia
• Scenic Vistas: panoramic and sustainable train journeys like Switzerland’s Golden Pass Line from Lucerne to Montreux offering breathtaking views of the Swiss Alps; Austria’s historic Semmering Railways with views of alpine landscapes, viaducts and tunnels carved into the mountains, wine tasting across quaint villages in France offering charming views of the French countryside
• Unique Accommodation: eco-friendly glamping in geodesic domes amidst the Swiss Alps; stargazing through glass igloos in Lapland; châteaux/palaces amidst vineyards in France, Italy and Austria; traditional mountain lodges/log cabins in Scandinavia/Georgia
• Distinctive Gastronomy experiences: fondue aboard Zurich’s Fondue Tram in Switzerland, chocolate and cheese experience amidst spectacular views at Glacier 3000, ice wine in  Germany/Austria or glögg/gløgg by the fireside in Sweden/Norway, trdelník (fried dough), sachertorte in Austria, Kjötsúpa (lamb meat soup) in Iceland, bredele cookies and gourmet dining at Michelin-starred restaurants in France; local wine tasting in Kakheti of Georgia
• Spa-Wellness retreats: spa-wellness rejuvenating experiences that include the endorphin rush of thermotherapy, with alternating temperatures of wood-fired/circular sauna baths followed by plunging into freezing waters of an Arctic ice hole, like ice bathing in Sweden’s Uppsala and Fjällnora; Norway’s Tjuvholmen and Svalbard, renowned Swiss spa town of Bad Zurzach, winter saunas and thermal baths in South Korea, onsen hot springs in Japan and Sulphur baths in Georgia
• Demand for Cruises: winter cruises and whale watching on board majestic Scandinavian fjords
• Top destinations:
  International: Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Georgia
  Domestic: Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, North East
  Emerging Destinations: Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic, Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, Croatia