The road well travelled

Next year, we will increasingly use tech to get better deals, seek value for money and choose green holiday options.

Next year, we will increasingly use tech to get better deals, seek value for money and choose green holiday options

HT Image

2010 promises to be a very interesting year for the tourism industry in India as well as for travellers – both foreign and Indian – who support this critical sector.

Some prominent trends will acquire steam and scale this year, reaching a ‘tipping point’ that will make it imperative for the majority of the industry to adapt to and adopt them.

We also feel that 2010 will be beginning of the age of the domestic Indian tourist, wherein the industry will increasingly be ‘driven’ by the purchasing power of a much larger segment of Indian travellers traveling within the country.

We’re listing below some of the key trends we feel will ‘define’ 2010 tourism in India.

1. Strictly speaking, this isn’t a trend but an event, but any predictions regarding tourism in India in 2010 would not be complete without mentioning the Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held next year. Events of this scale clearly have both short and long term implications for the industry.

2. Consumers will continue to seek travel deals – low airfares, last minute bookings, 5 star hotels at 4 star prices etc. Supported by pressures that airlines, hotels and other travel suppliers face, and using the ‘discovering power’ of the Internet, more and more consumers will demonstrate ‘smart buying behaviour’.

3. We will continue to ‘mature’ as travellers, seeking unique and memorable travel experiences – be it the coming of age of the adventure and wildlife tourism segments or the quest for exotic ‘off the beaten path’ destinations.

4. The adoption of the Internet and other technology by Indian travellers will increase and come to stay. Whether it is at the trip planning stage (where we will increasingly use the Net to plan trips based on insights and advice from other travellers), the trip booking stage (where we will increasingly turn to online travel agencies), during the trip itself (where we will be exposed to technologies such as GPS, Wi-fi in trains, aircraft, airports etc) or in the post-trip stage (where we will use the Net to share photographs on sites like Flickr, Facebook etc), we will adopt technology as never before.

5. Some other trends unearthed by a recently concluded survey are:
Goa remains the undisputed winter destination of choice.
‘Staycations’ emerge as a ‘mini-trend’ – people deciding to stay at home rather than spend money travelling.

Sharat Dhall Managing Director, TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor Winter Travel (2009-10) Survey
33 per cent would like to be green travellers
15 per cent want to go on a cruise
63 per cent want an
adventure activity or to visit a national park
70 per cent prefer
hotels where a room
is priced less than
Rs 3,000 a night
42 per cent plan to fly only low cost airlines