Indian travellers are opting for “bleisure” as the workcation trend is on the rise
India is home to some of the most majestic works of architecture (think Taj Mahal). With charming, quaint hillsides and exotic beaches, it’s no wonder Indian travellers are rejoicing in hybrid work. The world’s leading travel technology company, Amadeus has released its latest Travel Trends, detailing four key trends shaping up travel and sparking new life into travel.
The travel sector – which had already undergone a gradual evolution in the preceding years, largely driven by technology – has reinvented itself in a matter of months. From bubble resorts and travel corridors to the rise of hybrid work and a new breed of sustainably conscious consumers, the current map is almost unrecognizable from 2019 and 2020.
Predicting the future is more challenging than ever. But by calling on large swathes of data at their disposal, at Amadeus they have been able to identify some high-level trends. While the findings could evolve, there are clear indicators of what might lie in store for the rest of 2021 with the continued rollout of vaccines. As we look to rebuild travel, Amadeus also explores four emerging Travel Trends around the world:
Workcation- Out of the four trends, Indian travellers are embracing workcation, one of the key trends that offer city dwellers a chance for remote working while holidaying. Some call it bleisure (“individuals who combine leisure with professional business obligations”). However, at Amadeus, they prefer to talk about the rise of the workcation. The concept of working remotely from a coffee shop or a beach bar is not new, but the past year has democratized the dream. One can only see this trend expanding as countries emerge from lockdowns. More weary workers release a pent-up desire to step away for a breath of fresh air.
The report identifies two key findings:
1. This year, Indian travellers are searching for their destination just one day before departure.
2. These travellers are searching for long-term stays with 14 to 30 days and sometimes more.
Both of these are in contrast to 2019, where travellers were searching much more in advance of their trip and averaging eight days total for their trip.
Bubble Travel - With uncertainty ongoing, the growth of bubble travel has significant implications for health passports. A recent Amadeus study reveals that 93 per cent of Indian travellers are willing to adopt digital health passports to help facilitate travel reopening, which is key in rebuilding traveller confidence. Across Asia, countries like Australia and New Zealand formed a bubble travel agreement with similar initiatives slated for Singapore and Hong Kong. With vaccination rollouts, these steps could potentially help provide a much-needed boost towards helping travel recover.
Conscious Travel - When it comes to being more environmentally and socially conscious, Amadeus data shows that one-third of millennials would like to see more sustainable travel options and ways to reduce their carbon emissions when traveling. It was a similar story across all ages and global markets. One in four shared this commitment to travel sustainably.
Indulgent Travel – A renewed thirst for travel is seeing consumers book more indulgent trips. Within Asia, Hong Kong travellers are starting their searches two weeks earlier than they did in 2019 to make the absolute most of their journey, while China has launched Viking Cruises, a luxury cruise ship from the port of Qianhai, Shenzhen.