Indian overseas travellers just behind Americans in using Uber

According to Uber, Indians using the ridesharing app has inched closer to a million in 2023, recording a marked increase in the past two years.

Indian overseas travellers using Uber are only second to the US citizens, the ridesharing app said in a report that revealed global travel trends for 2023.

The trends for 2023 recorded a sharp increase in the number of Indians going abroad and the ongoing summer travel season is expected to break all previous records, the report said.

According to Uber, Indians using the ridesharing app has inched closer to a million in 2023, recording a marked increase in the past two years.

Data showed that Indians travelled to almost 1,000 cities in 68 different cities across the world, with the most ‘Uber-ed’ countries being the US, UK and Canada.

The most popular period for travel remains summer holidays as schools and colleges go into breaks in India. In 2023, May was the most popular month for overseas travel, while it was June in 2022, the report said.

“Indians have been breaking all travel records over the past couple of years, and it’s heart-warming to see how Uber continues to be their trusted last-mile partner in these travels. Be it the familiarity when landing at an airport in a new city, or the safety when riding late at night, it’s a huge mark of trust for us to see Indians book an Uber for their overseas travels,” said Prabhjeet Singh, president, Uber India and South Asia.

While abroad, many Indians also capitalised on the opportunity to ride in high-end cars such as Porsche Cayenne, Jaguar F PACE, among others.

The top choices were: Porsche Cayenne, Jaguar F PACE, Range Rover Sport, Mercedes S450, BMW 740i M Sport, and Lincoln Navigator.

Some of them also booked premium electric cars. The most popular ones were- Jaguar I PACE, Audi e-tron Sportback, Mercedes EQE 500, and Ford F150 Lightning.

In some of the countries that Indians travelled to have peer-to-peer ridesharing, which allows people to use their personal vehicles to give Uber rides. “That perhaps explains a range of luxury vehicle Uber rides for Indians while traveling abroad in 2023,” the report said.