Get behind the wheels on a holiday
Recent years have seen an increasing trend of self-drive outbound holidays. As per Avis, Indians recorded 40 per cent rise in self-drive holidays and 25 per cent rise in IDP issuance. Experts who believe the trend is likely to grow in times to come give s
Highlighting the trends of self-drive outbound holidays growing from India, Shawn Mendes, Director, Discover the World-India, the GSA for Hertz Rent A Car, says, “In 2015, it was estimated that the car rental market size was close to $73 billion. Albeit, the percentage contribution from source market India is less than 10 per cent, and the outbound holiday segment approximately 2535 per cent of the total India contribution. Though there has been a steady increase in the last few years due to rising disposable incomes, the maturity of the Indian traveller, familiarity to the destination and enhanced road infrastructure in most of the holiday destinations.”
Sunil Gupta, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Avis India, adds, “In the last few years more and more Indians are taking selfdrive options while they are travelling abroad. On general terms what we observe is that self-drive is most preferred if your purpose of travel is leisure as compared to business. Avis India is already selling international self-drive through our existing website, corporate relationships and travel partners. There is a rapidly growing desire for Indians to use self- drive cars while travelling abroad and so we plan to engage with travel agents, tour operator and travel management companies who have a strong focus on outbound travel.”
Jay Hasler, Director, International Sales, Asia, Enterprise Holdings, says, “Overall the trends are very positive, as we are seeing more and more Indians select self-drive as they travel abroad. As more people become aware of the benefits that are offered by self-driving we see the opportunities as endless. Growth has been in the high double digits for many years and continues to grow.”
For the driving enthusiast, as well as first-time explorer, the experience revolves around the route and the destination follows suite, says Mendes.
The choice of destination to undertake self drive is based on: (i) Destinations visited by a
matured FIT traveller, (ii) Destination that creates self-drive opportunities for Indian drivers, (iii) Destinations that can be explored by an experiential traveller by road.
“Some of the most explored routes for the Indian traveller are the Pacific Highway 1 (California, USA), the Great Ocean Road (Victoria, Australia), the North Island Beaches and Geothermal Route (New Zealand), England Country Side & Wales Castle Route, and the Grand Tour (Switzerland) – to name a few. Understanding the same, we have chalked out routes in over 30 countries,” he adds. The top self-drive destinations for Indians is the US, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, Scotland, Mendes says. Hasler adds, destinations such as Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand have always been popular. North America is also a great destination for self-drive. Talking about what Hertz offers to travel agents, Mendes says, “Hertz is available through various distribution channels to the agents, even a simple web interface accessible via www.hertzagent.com. For agents/OTAs that have API capability, we can directly plug into their website and for agencies that would like to create a package, we have package rates bookable in INR in India. Travel partners can seek more information by writing to our at hertz@discovertheworld.co.in.”
The main challenges and positives for international self drive holidays for Indians are, Hasler concludes, “The ability to travel at your own pace, and see what you desire to see are some of the main benefits. The positives are many! There are no real challenges in taking a self-drive holiday. As long as the customer has a valid driver’s license and credit card, you can take a self-drive holiday on your next trip!”