Indonesia’s 2024 Ramadan mudik outlook: Top travel periods, transport modes, booking methods

What proportion of Indonesians plan to perform mudik in 2024 – travel back to their hometowns – and when do they plan to do so? What modes of transportation and booking methods do they plan to use, and how are they staying updated on relevant mudik travel information?

In Part 3 of our three-part study on Ramadan 2024 in Indonesia: Trends in Festive Shopping, THR spending and Mudik Travel, we unpack the most popular travel periods, transport modes and booking methods for mudik travel this year.

What proportion of Indonesians intend to mudik in 2024 – and when are they planning to?

Latest research from YouGov Surveys show that, about half (49%) of Indonesians who observe Ramadan in Indonesia plan to travel back to their hometowns this year. A third do not plan to (32%), while just under a fifth have not decided at the time of polling (18%).

More than two in five (45%) say they typically perform mudik 2-6 days before Eid al-Fitr / Idul Fitri, by far the most popular period for mudik travel.

The next most popular dates are at the time of Eid (14%), 2-6 days after Eid (14%) and 7-13 days before Eid (12%).

What modes of transportation do Indonesians plan to use for mudik in 2024?

Most Indonesians plan to use private vehicles for their mudik travel in 2024 – both for the journey back to their hometown and to return to their current city of residence.

Close to two in five (37%) plan to travel by private car, while over a fifth (22%) plan to travel by private motorcycle.

Public transportation by train (12%) and bus (10-11%) are next most popular, ahead of rental car (7-8%) and airplane (6%).

How do Indonesians plan to book their 2024 mudik transportation?

Most Indonesians that intend to use public or chartered transport for their mudik travel this year, plan to book their seats via online channels (65%); and half of them plan to do so via travel platforms like Traveloka (28%), Tiket.com (18%), Booking.com (3%), Agoda (2%) or Nusatrip (1%).

Just under a third plan to book their mudik transport tickets via offline channels – either directly at stations/terminals (26%) or via a travel agent (5%).

How are Indonesians staying updated with information relevant to their mudik travel in 2024?

Over three-quarters (77%) say they turn to social media platforms – like Facebook, Instagram and X/Twitter – to keep up with information related to their mudik travel plans.

More than half (55%) also turn to their family/friends/colleagues and TV channels as the next most common ways to stay informed, ahead of digital news sources like websites and mobile apps (43%) and print media publications (14%).

Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online in January 2024, with a sample of 2,136 adults in Indonesia (aged 18+ years), using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by gender, age, socioeconomic class, city tier to be representative of the adult Indonesian online population (18 years or older) and reflect the latest Indonesian Bureau of Statistics (BPS) population estimates. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.

_{Cover photo by ferlistockphoto}