About 96% Indian travellers tip at hotel: Survey

Around 96 per cent Indian travellers give tips at a hotel, more so because of the room service and good housekeeping, a recent survey has found.
"About 96 per cent Indians usually tip at a hotel, 79 per cent tip because of the room service and 51 per cent tip after being impressed by the housekeeping," according to '2016 Hotel Etiquette Report' by full service online travel company Expedia.
About 39 per cent Indians tip the porter at the hotel whereas 24 per cent tip the valet, it found.
The survey, which is an analysis of behaviour and preferences of Indians while booking hotels, was conducted online in August by GFK Custom Research, North America, among 1,014 randomly selected adults, both men and women, who have stayed overnight in a hotel in the past two years.

When it comes to facilities, 75 per cent Indians want in-room features like Jacuzzi, tub or balcony, it said.
Location and price are the most critical for 96 per cent Indians and for 95 per cent family friends, food, beverages, room size is a major consideration, it said.

Things like complimentary Wi-Fi (93 per cent), reviews (89 per cent) and hotel brands (86 per cent) are also major attracting factors for Indians, it added.
"The survey highlights some interesting facts about preferences of Indian travellers while booking a hotel. According to the survey, the most preferred medium of booking a hotel amongst 35 per cent is a desktop or laptop followed by mobile app on smart phone while 14 per cent travellers book through mobile web using smart phone," Expedia Marketing Head, in India, Manmeet Ahluwalia said.

"It is interesting to note that 89 per cent Indians consider hotel reviews as very important while choosing a hotel," Ahluwalia added.
He said as Indian travellers are evolving, 77 per cent consider the ability to earn and redeem reward points on their bookings as important.
Indians prefer switching their rooms at hotels if the washrooms are unclean (51 per cent), displeasing smell (48 per cent), dirty beds (48 per cent) and uncomfortable beds (41 per cent), the survey found.
Noisy neighbours (30 per cent) and close to elevators (19 per cent) also makes Indians switch their rooms, it added.

Where People Travelled in 2016
The good old destinations like France and Italy were ock-solid on top positions, but surprisingly, there were new entrees to the list of most visited countries. More number of itineraries were planned to Japan and Russia as compared to previous years, which proves that travellers in 2016 were experimental in choosing the destinations. But this didn't keep the crowds away from the popular attractions like the Eiffel Tower and Colosseum and they continued to be the most visited attractions in the world.
Type of Accommodation Preferred in 2016 While luxury vacations are gaining immense popularity, the trend observed in 2016 was striking.

Travellers ditched the conventional hotel stay and preferred to book homestays and B&Bs instead. This is evident from the 31% increase in Bed and Breakfast bookings as compared to previous years. Among hotels, 3-star was the most preferred choice over luxury hotels with 62% choosing a 3-star accommodation. How did the 2016 Traveller Plan Trips According to the data of TripHobo users, an average of 62% travellers chose to plan a DIY trip whereas an average of 23% travellers chose to customize the plans created by other travellers on TripHobo. 14% of the travellers chose the conventional readymade packages.
This DIY trend shows that fewer travellers are opting for readymade travel packages as compared to the previous years. Longer trips were planned with more care compared to the shorter ones, as evidenced by the much higher number of revisions made to itineraries of longer durations. Predictions for 2017 Travel as we know is going to transform in the coming years with an estimated 38% rise in the use of DIY trip plans. In terms of destinations, 36% travellers are predicted to choose offbeat places and experiences over conventional holiday destinations. The popularity of short trips continues to rise with a predicted growth rate of almost 50%. One third of the travellers are anticipated to opt for a solo trip while less than one sixth of the travellers are expected to plan an off-season trip to avoid crowd and surcharges. Homestays will continue to dominate accommodation choices with a growth of 14%. Hot Destinations for 2017 European destinations like Reykjavik, Salzburg, Cork, Copenhagen and Ibiza are expected to receive a larger influx of tourists in early 2017. Asian destinations like Leh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands might also garner a lot of tourist interest. Off-beat places like Mongolia and Bucharest are anticipated to see more crowds than usual whereas the popular destinations like Naples and Lisbon will continue to see more crowds.

So, what's your idea of the perfect trip?
About TripHobo:
TripHobo, world's largest repository of user-generated trip plans is an innovative travel start-up which aims in solving travellers pain points in trip planning. Founded in 2012, TripHobo is a privately held company; headquartered in Palo Alto, CA and operates from Pune, India.
TripHobo has secured Series B funding in March 2015. TripHobo offers an online trip planning platform to create customized trips. With over 600,000 user-generated trip plans, users can pick an itinerary of their choice, personalize them according to their preferences. Along with that, users can also book handpicked tours and activities, and hotels. TripHobo works with scalable technology architectures and with in-house built algorithms to help users create itineraries.

TripHobo has developed processes to develop high-quality logistical information and content that aid in creating great itineraries.
Media Contact:
Praveen Kumar
Hi@triphobo.