Small-town India catches travel bug
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 II and III markets is definitely way higher than in larger cities year-onyear. Cities such as Lucknow, Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Trichy and Nagpur are becoming big markets for us,” said Daniel D’souza, head of sales, India, NRI markets and e-commerce at SOTC.
Thomas Cook India said growth in tier II and III towns has been much higher than metros in the last three years. “Around 40% of our business comes from tier II and III towns and first time outbound travellers constitute 20% of this revenue pie and it is increasing very rapidly,” said Romil Pant, senior vice president, leisure travel, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd.
While an increase in disposable income is the underlying reason for the trend, the biggest immediate factor is better airport infrastructure and air connectivity. “The spurt in growth has been specially observed from hubs where direct flights to international destinations have recently started. In tier II 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.