The Hindu Business Line : Travel log

The profile of Indian travellers visiting international destinations has changed and today many of them are able to take snap decisions and plan international travel within a few days, says the online travel company Yatra.com’s cofounder Sabina Chopra.

Earlier, Indians used to plan in advance — at least 30-45 days — for international travel. For instance, for a summer vacation in May-June they would start planning in February or March. “But for a year now, and thanks to relaxation in visa norms in countries such as Thailand and Sri Lanka where you can get visa on arrival, we are now seeing bookings coming in as late as 3-7 days from the date of journey.”

While youngsters tend to book flights and hotels on the Web site and plan sightseeing tours and other interests on their own, Yatra’s holiday packages are becoming popular too. “Some of them have booked domestic and international flights from us earlier and now want a more mature product like a holiday package.” The flavours of the moment are Thailand, Macau, Sri Lanka and Singapore, the last for the FI event.

“But the trends keep changing. During summer months European holidays are very popular, but this is the season for shorter breaks and most people are headed towards east as well as Dubai for 4-5 day trips. During winter, leisure tours to Australia are popular, as also Switzerland, which is the destination favoured mainly by honeymooners,” says Sabina.

While a European holiday costs about Rs 1 lakh per person, Switzerland packages, including travel, are available for Rs 60,000 per person for five nights and six days. If needed, Yatra offers assistance with visas at no extra charge in cities from where visas are issued.

Interestingly, Indian travellers are quickly moving away from organised group tours to individual tours. “That is the biggest trend that we are seeing. We do organise such tours on special requests but we believe, as a product, large group tours will not last very long. Only first-time travellers or senior citizens who want the safety of people around them are opting for such tours. But youngsters, even when they are first-time travellers, want to go by themselves and want an individual, customised package.”

She also finds that itineraries are getting tweaked by individuals who make alterations and add their own preferences. “Today’s Indian traveller is very mature and evolved. He is not willing to take the recommendations of the travel agent; he knows his mind and has done enough study of the destination on the Net.” Most people, she adds, go at least to two or three vendors before making up their minds, and negotiate hard for good deals.

The average Indian traveller is cost-conscious and normally sets out a budget — between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh — and asks the Yatra team to work around it. But then there is also the high-end customer for whom cost is no constraint. Needless to say, Yatra representatives make destination presentations on their laptops for such customers at their homes.

More and more women are also travelling on their own; “they come in groups of 6 or 7... Rotary Club members or from kitties. This, too, is a mature segment which is growing; cruises are quite popular among women’s groups,” says Sabina.

On what people like to do, she says in Europe it is mostly sightseeing; in Switzerland it is the mountains and in places like Rome or the UK, which are steeped in history, travellers want to visit monuments and historic sights.

As for food, Indian vegetarian is the most popular “and we do try and arrange vegetarian food — at least one Indian meal a day — as far as possible. We get requests for Jain food from the Gujarat market.” But the youngsters are willing to try out local cuisine, but after 2-3 days all Indians want an Indian meal!

While many people pay online for their bookings, there are those who prefer to visit one of Yatra’s 15 lounges in the country and pay by cash or cheque. “But we do encourage people to pay online.”

As for future trends, Sabina says individualised, customised itineraries will be the way forward.

Related Stories:
Yatra.com ties up with global carriers
Travel plans on course despite swine flu scare

More Stories on : International Travel | Travel & Places | Internet | Rasheeda Bhagat

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Serving up khana khazana