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If you thought mobile devices were only to make calls, think again!
Smart phones and tablets are becoming essential travel accessories. More and more Indians are jettisoning their plain-vanilla mobile phones for smarter devices, according to the ‘Mobile Device Travel Survey' by travel planning site TripAdvisor®.
The trend is reflected in the survey of respondents across different cities in India. While 65 per cent people said they possess a smart phone, 22 per cent owned a tablet.
Fifty-three per cent of survey respondents said that they have at least one travel application with 26 per cent having between one and two travel apps installed on their mobile device.
The six most downloaded travel apps are: TripAdvisor, Google Maps, Make My Trip, Blackberry travel, IRCTC and Cleartrip.
Fitted with snappy travel applications, these smart devices are helping travellers go further and add value to their travel experiences. The survey found that taking and sharing photos, navigation and games were the top three things travellers use their mobiles for while travelling (other than calls and texting).
“For tech savvy Indians, mobile devices are becoming an integral part of their holidays. Starting from pre-trip research on destinations, attractions, hotels to actual booking accommodation or flights for the trip, to location based services at the holiday destination; the mobile fits all in the palm of your hand,” said Mr Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India.
Chennai and Bangalore seem to be home to tech friendly travel enthusiasts with 59 per cent respondents in both these cities claiming to have at least one travel app downloaded on their mobile device, the highest among all metros followed closely by Mumbai (58 per cent), Hyderabad (57 per cent), Delhi (56 per cent) and Kolkata at a distant 40 per cent.
“The apps are very useful when you are searching for best rates for hotels or restaurants. It also gives a fair understanding about the main highlights of the destination,” said Ms Amrita Das, a software developer from Bangalore and a travel enthusiast.
The survey said that travellers from Chennai were most handy with their mobile devices with largest respondents from the city claiming they have used a mobile device to book accommodations, flights or restaurants online.
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