Small-town India catches travel bug
NEWDELHI: Cash in hand and family in tow, small-town India is on the move like never before.
Travellers across age groups from small towns in India are increasingly travelling to international destinations such as
Dubai, Europe and South-east
Asia, driving growth and sales for travel operators.
Some 30-40% of business for both online and offline tour operators, such as Thomas
Cook, SOTC and Makemytrip, now comes from tier II and III towns, the companies said.
“The growth in tier Iiltd.andiiigrowthintieriiandiiitowns markets is definitely way higher has been much higher than metWhile an increase in disposathan in larger cities year-onros in the last three years. ble income is the underlying year. Cities such as Lucknow, “Around 40% of our business reason for the trend, the biggest Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, comes from tier II and III towns immediate factor is better airTrichy and Nagpur are becomand first time outbound travelport infrastructure and air coning big markets for us,” said lers constitute 20% of this revenectivity. “The spurt in growth Daniel D’souza, head of sales, nue pie and it is increasing very has been specially observed India, NRI markets and e-comrapidly,” said Romil Pant, senfrom hubs where direct flights merce at SOTC. ior vice president, leisure to international destinations
Thomas Cook India said travel, Thomas Cook (India) have recently started. In tier II per head depending on the destination and holiday duration HOLIDAY DURATION One long haul
Long weekend breaks
of the total departures from India account for leisure travelling (4.8 million trips) compared to a global average of 53% By 2025, leisure departures are expected, leading to 19.4 million Indian visitor arrivals overseas, with a major contribution from tier II and III towns and III towns, we have seen large family group travel bookings and year-on-year we have observed that these families are taking at least one international trip together,” said a Makemytrip spokesperson.
An explosion of information on social media, powered by cheaper internet and smartphone penetration, is firing up the desire for foreign travel.
Unlike metro travellers, however, there is a greater need for service for these travellers, operators said, such as overseas assistance, itinerary briefings, pick-up and drops, popular activity addition and food preference support. Language barrier continues to be a major concern.
Social media is an important influencer when it comes to the travel sector, said Rakshit Desai, managing director, India, at Flight Centre Travel Group which says 30% of its business is now coming from tier II and III towns.