An industry survey charts the decision-making journey of the Indian traveller and hints at the growth of travel businesses till 2020
The Indian passenger travel market is projected to grow at 11-11.5 per cent to $48 billion by 2020 with the biggest contributor, air travel expected to grow at 15 per cent to $30 billion. Hotels will grow at 13 per cent to $13 billion by 2020 while railways will remain $5 billion. Additionally, as more people get online, smartphone penetration increases and use of digital payments goes up, India’s online hotel market will grow to US$4 billion with 31per cent penetration at a CAGR of 25 per cent.
These were the findings of a study conducted by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Google India. The report, Demystifying the Indian Online Traveller, charts the decision-making journey of the Indian traveller and provides insights on the potential growth opportunities for travel businesses till 2020.
Speaking about the key findings of the report, Vikas Agnihotri, Industry Director, Google India, said, “India’s domestic travel market is on an acceleration path. One of the key findings of the report is that by 2020, one in three hotel rooms will be booked online – a clear indicator of the growing importance of digital in travel research, planning and booking. There are several actionable insights for domestic online travel players, including the role of mobile and the level of curation and personalisation that Indian travellers are looking for.”
Demystifying the travel planning journey of the typical Indian consumer, the report shows that for many, a vacation is an event planned in advance as opposed to being an impulsive purchase. Consumers typically spend 46 days on average planning their trip. They spend 49 minutes online on their travel research and visit as many as 17 touch points during their booking journey. However, it is interesting to note that the length of each online session is less than three minutes, due to the ubiquity of mobile. Through their journey, Indian travellers tend to move back and forth across different online channels, checking availability, comparing prices and assessing connectivity.
Talking about the opportunities for the online travel players, Abheek Singhi, senior partner and Asia Pacific Head of Consumer Practice, BCG, said, “Travel is a high investment – both in the monetary and emotional categories. Technology has led to democratisation of travel through better information and price discovery. The question is how to address the 17 different touch points of three minutes each over 49 days! The imperative for players is to use technology and advanced analytics capability to understand individual micro journeys and offer personalised and curated travel solutions.”