Indian mobile travel to soar

With an increasing number of people adopting advanced mobile devices, mobile travel sales in India are expected to rise at 67.1 per cent from 2017 to 2020, a survey said on Thursday.

The increase has been calculated on compound annual growth rate (CAGR), said performance marketing technology company Criteo.

The rise of online travel agencies (OTAs) has further led to a surge in domestic flights and mid-budget segment hotels, with consumer expenditure on leisure expected to rise 9.9 per cent.

On an average, an Indian took 6.7 trips in the past 12 months with an average spending on a leisure trip of Rs 55,176, the report said.

"The Indian travel landscape is changing rapidly, and has seen significant growth in the last decade. The trend of weekend trips and seasonal travel has become popular among Indians," Dushyant Sapre, Commercial Director of Criteo India, said in a statement.

"Tech-savvy millennials primarily browse for best travel packages and in-destination activities through their mobile phones and OTA apps," Sapre said.

Ownership of digital devices, accessibility to the internet, convenience of online booking, various payment modes and favourable pricing are the key driving forces for online travel shopping.

While 54 per cent of millennials -- those born between 1980 and 2000 -- and 44 per cent baby boomers -- born between 1945 and 1954 -- most often use the smartphone for online browsing of travel products and services, 49 per cent Gen X -- born between 1965 and 1974 -- use laptops.

According to the report, 57 per cent of millennials are most influenced by travel website reviews, posts and forums.

However, they are also influenced by experience from their last trip (50 per cent) as well as internet advertisements of the destination and travel services (56 per cent).

--IANS

rt/soni/mr