New Delhi, Aug 28 - Nearly 80 percent of Indians in metros prefer to use online travel portals to plan their holidays, a new study released Friday says.

The study done by research company The Nielsen found that 34 percent of Indians book airline tickets, 17 percent book hotels and holiday packages while 14 percent book train tickets using these sites.

Travel portals like Yatra, MakeMyTrip and Travel Guru are the strongest players in the business, the study found.

'Given the growing penetration of the Internet in India, online travel agents are becoming increasingly popular among Indians. Consumers also find it quite convenient to book their tickets and plan holidays using these sites as it saves them time and efforts compared to other forms of bookings,' said Vatsala Pant, a director with the Nielsen Company.

The study further found that the majority of people who haven't yet made any booking using online travel agents had checked these sites for information and were positively inclined to make bookings in the future.