The rise of experiential travel for the global Indians

Mumbai:  The Indian travel industry has witnessed paradigm shift over the years and now the trend forecast shows that tourists are gravitating towards experiential travel, which resonates at a deeper emotional level. Forward thinking travel brands are working towards providing a seamless expedition that focuses on three important parameters: uniqueness, experience and personalisation.

Vacationing has become a ‘must-do’ with an element of escapism associated with almost every modern Indian traveller. The concept of holiday has moved beyond and is no longer restricted to being an annual affair. It has become a reason to retreat every few weeks. Long weekends have changed the way travellers and tourism industry look at the Indian traveller. This has created a market for alternate travel possibilities.

Mr. Daniel D'Souza, President and Country Head, Leisure, SOTC Travel avers, “Short haul destinations like Singapore, Thailand and Maldives are becoming more family friendly and the Indian consumers are opting for value driven packages. Destinations with visa on arrivals facilities, discounted airfares and accommodation are also a few reasons for the rise of this trend as it becomes more affordable and reasonable for consumers to embark on these leisure journeys.”

According to him, this summer Thailand, Bali, Mauritius, Maldives, Singapore, Bhutan and Sri-Lanka are in great demand as their product teams have carefully designed unique packages for the value conscious travellers, travelling to these destinations.

Talking about trends Ms. Heena Akhtar, Co-founder, tripXOXO shares, “The smart weekend concept has emerged from couple of years and there is robust growth in festival tourism as the domestic travellers seek to amalgamate the cultural and spiritual elements which are creating a distinctive increase in travel demand.” She further elaborates that people are extensively planning holidays around festivals to get the best offers and packages for value for money deal.

The travel industry has thus far undergone enormous changes with travellers opting for experiential tours where they can soak as much as they can the local culture, cuisine, festivities and a lot more. It is no longer about breaking the monotony of routine life but engaging more in enriching experiences that satiate the soul.

To keep up with this fast pace change and the travel service provides are constantly reworking their strategies, innovating new technologies to understand the trend and meet their requirements. Travel loans have become prevalent in the last three years. Patrons are opting for their dream trips because of the loans and can upgrade trips to international destinations especially the honeymoon travellers.

To cater to the excursionists, SOTC has launched On The Go, which is a travel service for personalised tours. This service has been developed after meticulously understanding the mindset of the new age travellers who are always on the look out for customised experiences and activities.

Improvements in flight routes, transport, cheap flights, on-demand care rentals and recommendations, micro trips and many more innovative holiday concepts are helping in elevating the travel experience, thereby ensuring a growth momentum in the tourism sector.