Klook research reveals that travel planning is the most unappreciated task of a vacation; 6 in 10 planners took more than 10 hours to plan a single trip
Gurgaon, Aug 05: Taking a vacation might be exciting but planning for it seems to be the most unappreciated task. A recent research by Klook, a leading pan-regional platform for experiences and travel services in Asia Pacific, revealed that travel planning ranked as the #1 least-thanked task in India.
Travel planning may be what makes every holiday possible, and to deep-dive into what goes into the process Klook did a new research surveying 2,725 travellers across 10 markets. The research revealed that more than 6 in 10 planners insisted that they spend more than 10 hours organising a single trip. In fact, 39.5% spend up to 20 hours and 24.2% spend up to, and even more, than 40 hours! Because planning a trip is not a single task. It is many tasks disguised as one.
As Klook Kreator Shreya Gautam says, “Being the travel planner means you don’t just book flights and hotels – you become the unofficial problem solver, budget manager and itinerary expert. It’s a responsibility, but it’s also part of the fun.”
She adds, “I have realised the travel planner rarely gets thanked until someone says, ‘That was our best trip yet.’ That’s when all those hours of planning feels completely worth it.”
AN ACTUAL JOB
The travel planner is the group’s operations manager, customer service desk, and crisis hotline, all rolled into one.
The biggest source of stress for Indian planners is managing human logistics. Their top stressors include coordinating schedules (63.7%), managing budgets (59.2%), and comparing flights and accommodations (45.9%).
Beyond managing budgets and schedules, Indian planners also shoulder the emotional labour of the trip: 75.2% say their top skill is choosing options that minimise group drama, prevent conflict, and keep everyone happy.
While everyone else is relaxing, the planner is still on duty. More than half of Indian planners check their phones six or more times a day during the trip to manage bookings, directions, and logistics.
THE COST OF THE JOB
While many travellers outsource decision-making with an “I’m happy with anything”, it is the planner who remains accountable. And the blame does not add up: far more planners say they get blamed than non-planners admit to blaming them.
The top three complaints are:
·“I could’ve planned this better.”
·“Why didn’t we do this instead?”
·“That’s out of my budget.”
Tough job.
In fact, if being a planner looks, feels, and operates like a job, how much should they get paid for it?
More than 7 in 10 Indian planners believe they deserve to be paid US$50 or more per hour for their efforts. Given that most Indian planners spend between 10 to 20 hours organising a week-long group trip, that amounts to as much as US$1,000 or more in unpaid labour.
And that is before the holiday has even begun.
HOW DO WE PAY THEM BACK?
Planners keep planning because someone has to turn “we should go somewhere” into “remember that amazing trip?”
Some 63.7% of Indian planners say the trip only makes it out of the group chat because of them, while 67.5% believe the group would not travel as well without a planner.
It is time to give India’s travel planners the recognition they deserve.
After spending hours coordinating schedules, managing budgets (and egos), solving problems before anyone notices them, and taking the blame when things go wrong, it is perhaps no surprise that more than 8 in 10 Indian travel planners believe they deserve more recognition for everything they do.
For Harjinder Kukreja, a Klook Kreator, planning travel for his family is the ultimate balancing act: “The kids want non-stop adventure, my wife wants beautiful experiences, and I’m the one trying to make it all work without turning our holiday into a military schedule.”
Studies show 52.5% of planners spend more time planning a trip than their entire work week, drowning in dozens of open tabs. “That’s where Klook becomes essential for me. Instead of jumping across ten websites, I can discover, compare, and book everything in one place,” he adds.
“The funny part? Once the trip starts, my family just wakes up and asks, ‘So, what are we doing today?’ But honestly, if everyone thinks the holiday just magically came together, you’ve done your job well.” Like the 33.1% of non-planners who happily sit back because someone else takes charge, Harjinder’s family operates on pure trust.
Similarly, Klook Kreator Taba Yam Ana experienced this blind trust firsthand during a Japan trip with a group of mothers from India. Despite spending weeks crafting the itinerary, sharing it repeatedly, and pinning every Klook voucher in their WhatsApp chat, every single morning started with the same cheerful question: “Ana, where are we going next?”
“At first, I found it funny because everything was already in the chat,” Ana shares. “But then I realized: they didn’t skip reading the itinerary because they didn’t care. skipped it because I was their human GPS. Why read the map when you’re riding with the expert? That’s when I understood what being a travel planner really means. It’s not just making bookings; it’s creating peace of mind.”
It’s a relatable struggle. Studies show 52.5% of travel planners spend more time planning a trip than their entire work week—often drowning in dozens of open tabs to research activities, cross-reference reviews, and coordinate logistics.
Behind every memorable holiday is someone investing their time, energy, and mental effort so everyone else can just show up.
Maybe it is time we give our travel planners the appreciation they deserve, and thank the friend or family member who makes the holiday possible.