Travel bookings on mobile set to spike by 2020: Study
The number of flights, hotels and packaged holidays bought on smart phones is projected to grow at a staggering rate, said a study released on Thursday. The study — conducted by Euromonitor International for Criteo, a performance marketing technology company — showed travel sales on mobile phones are set to rise at 67.1% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) between 2017 and 2020.
The report pointed out that more disposable income and several nearby countries offering Indians’ appetite for vacations. The amount spent on leisure trips is likely to increase at 9.9% CAGR, the report added.
“The Indian travel landscape is changing rapidly, and has seen significant growth in the past decade. With the rise of online travel agencies (OTAS), an increase in domestic flights and mid-budget segment hotels, Indian travellers have started spending heavily on leisure and travel,” said Dushyant Sapre, commercial director, Criteo India. “Tech-savvy millennials primarily search for the best travel packages and in-destination activities through their mobile phones and OTA
Travel bookings made on cell phones are not always impulse purchases observed during flash sales. The report said ‘price conscious’ Indian travellers do extensive research. Almost six of 10 travellers browse travel websites over the weekend. About 80% of people from all age groups prefer to browse and search for travel products and services at home, it added.
Millennials (54%) and baby boomers (44%) most often use smartphones to browse services online, said the report. It added that on average, a person took 6.7 trips last year, spending about Rs55,176 a trip. Debit and credit cards were the most popular
Bombay high court ordered a United Kingdom national — who had come to India on vacation — to pay Rs15 lakh as surety before letting him return to his country for his daughter’s wedding.
Stephen John Smith, 62, was arrested for stealing the laptop of a fellow passenger at the Mumbai airport during a visit in December last year.
Smith had come to India along with his wife in December 2016 on a tourist visa. After landing at the airport, he allegedly stole the laptop and the couple then went to Goa. However, after the laptop’s owner, Khar resident Sunil Bhulabhai and the Sahar police scanned the CCTV footage and saw that the British national had stolen the gadget.
Smith was traced to Goa on the basis of his passport numerals and was apprehended by the Calangute police. He was then handed over to the Sahar police which arrested him for theft and later released on bail and the laptop was returned to Bhulabhai.
The UK national had been detained in the country ever since but on March 1, he approached the high court seeking permission to travel to UK after his plea was turned down by the Andheri magistrate court. His lawyer Diwakar Singh pleaded that he has been facing prosecution for stealing the laptop which was already returned to the owner. Singh also offered to give an undertaking that Smith would return to face trial against by April 2.
The judges then asked him to deposit a substantial amount as security. It was only after he deposited a demand draft of Rs 15 lakh and an undertaking that he would return to India on or before April 2, that the bench allowed him to travel to UK.