BWI: Tripadvisor Offers a Glimpse Into What Indian Travellers's Did This Summer

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: TripAdvisor Media Network
Thursday, July 09, 2009 04:20 PM IST (10:50 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Travel & tourism; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Hospitality, Information technology, Travel & tourism; Technology
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Tripadvisor Offers a Glimpse Into What Indian Travellers's Did This Summer


New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, July 09, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- - Most travellers travelled within India this summer - Favoured budget hotels

- Historic sites, National Parks, Adventure activities and Spas were top choices for holiday attractions

- Haircuts, Sun Blocks and diets were followed before vacations

TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel community, announced the results of this summer's travel trend witnessed by India. One of the clear trends was a large preference for travel within the country, along with choosing budget or value for money hotels for their stays. Clearly, the economic climate is showing its effects on the travel plans of Indians.

Historic places and national parks emerged as holiday destinations of choice during the summer vacations. While on holiday, adventure activities and Spa visits were the preferred recreational outlets for Indians.

"India is dotted with places of great historical and religious significance, and the economic slowdown has made Indian travellers re-discover these destinations in preference to the international travel itineraries, that were popular over the past couple of years. I think we are using the slowdown as a great opportunity to reconnect with our roots," said Sharat Dhall, Managing Director, for TripAdvisor India.

Here are some interesting facts from the survey:-

Places to visit

36 percent of travellers travelled within India, mostly to places like Goa and Kerala. Amongst international destinations, South East Asian destinations such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia not surprisingly emerged as the favourites, followed by other usually popular places such as Australia, France, UAE etc. Interestingly, places like Greece, Bhutan etc emerged as choices for a few, indicating a small but clear trend to go off the beaten track.

Things to do while on vacation

While on vacation, visiting a historic site 67 percent or a national park 54 percent & adventure activities 47 percent stood out as clear winners. Visiting a spa 41 percent was more popular than visiting God (31 percent )as people clearly chose the former over the latter! Interestingly, a visit to the theatre emerged as a strong choice 34 percent, possibly again indicating a growing preference to soak in cultural activities a destination has to offer. That Indian traveller is risk averse can be deduced from the little interest they showed for Gambling as an activity to participate in while holidaying.

Travel Budgets

As a sign of the times, 34 percent of travellers spent no more than INR 50,000 for their family holidays over the next 6 months. However, the rich and upwardly mobile continued to live it up, with more than 11 percent of travellers indicated that they spent upwards of INR 200,000 on vacations in the near future as well.

32 percent of people preferred 'Value for money' or budget hotels where a room night was priced at less than INR 2000.

Economic Climate

In a clear indication that the travel decisions & plans of Indians are being affected by the current scenario -

60 percent of travellers surveyed said they looked for cheaper air tickets on travel Web sites.

54 percent choose more 'value-for-money' or budget hotels for their leisure stays.

50 percent booked their travel in advance to take advantage of low fares.

Environmentally Sound

45 percent of respondents said they would like to be more environmentally conscious during their travel in the coming year, and to chose an environmentally- friendly hotel or resort for their stay.

How Indians prepare for a holiday

While 50 percent of the travellers went for a hair cut before their vacation, 42 percent bought sun block or shopped for clothes. Vanity is clearly still in vogue with 37 percent wanting to be fit before they traveled and hence going on a diet or cardio vascular exercises to lose weight. In a good sign for men, 17 percent of all respondents wanted to go in for various forms of waxing such as bikini or a back wax.

What Indians wouldn't leave home without

86 percent travellers never left for their vacation without a camera/ binoculars. 85 percent travellers felt that a credit card was an absolute necessity.79 percent felt that a nice pair of sunglasses was a must and 78 percent carried their own toiletries.


CONTACT DETAILS
Nikhil Ganju, TripAdvisor, +91 9811299822, nganju@tripadvisor.com
Nidhi Mehra, 20:20 Media, +91 9819331654, nidhimehra@2020india.com
Lakshita Sogani, 20:20 Media, +91 9899200649, lakshita@2020india.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, TOURISM, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, HOSPITALITY, TRAVEL, TECHNOLOGY

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