While Indians have taken upon themselves to thrive all the way to the top in all sorts of lists, travelling doesn’t seem to make the cut. 

The results for Vacation Deprivation Study 2018 came in, and Indians aren’t at the top of their game. The report by the online travel portal, Expedia states Indians have been slacking off when it comes to taking a break.

About 75% of Indians feel vacation-deprived, which is a significant spike from last year’s 60%, making India one of the most vacation-deprived after South Korea (72%) and Hong Kong (69%).

The annual report further cited the reasons for lack of travelling culture – Indians fear being seen as less committed (25%) or finding it difficult to coordinate time with their travel companion (19%). Also, Indians feel that successful people don’t take vacations (18%) and others choose to opt out of vacations in exchange for money (31%).

While the report shows a surge among bosses in favour of supporting vacations (78%), it is a lost cause as those on vacations get diverted by their work. Hence, they are more likely to keep in touch with their colleagues and constantly check their e-mails (34%) which, in turn, kills the purpose of taking a break.

It is no surprise that about 17% of Indians go a year or more without taking a vacation. And, as much of 55% of Indians feel that vacation-deprivation affects their productivity.

In contrast to countries like Australia, New Zealand and Spain where retirement comes easy and comfortable,  which simply isn’t the case for Indians. More Indians are scrambling for other job opportunities post-retirement, cutting costs and therefore are more likely to cancel their vacation in exchange for more work.

This survey also highlighted that as much as 77% of women are vacation-deprived as compared to 74% of men. When the post-vacation blues set in as many as 15% of women and 10% of men feel guilty after taking a vacation.