"Indian leisure traveller are now willing to explore newer destinations. They now tend to go to unexplored places in South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Sri Lanka. Apart from these countries, they want to go to unchartered territories of South Africa and the UK," said Manmeet Ahluwalia, Marketing head Expedia India.
The Nielsen India Outbound Monitor and Pacific Asia Travel Association study has verified this trend, he said, adding that due to this business traffic from India are moving more towards these countries.
Rather than covering more destinations in one trip abroad, Indians are now spending more time on one destination country, he said, adding that they now look for an experience more than just a holiday.
Apart from this, Indians now tend to plan their trips or holidays coinciding with international events like F1 Grand Prix, shopping festivals or other cultural events like Tomatina and others.
"Bollywood has always created an everlasting impact on Indian psyche and destinations well used have given a great push to Indian tourists to the particular destinations. A decade earlier, Yash Chopra's movies created a huge demand for Switzerland, and a similar success has been witnessed by 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' in creating the demand for Spain," Ahluwalia said.
This strategy is now being exploited by tourism boards of various countries.
Another noticeable trend is that Indian travellers end up paying extra expenses on excess baggage. According to a survey conducted by Expedia, nearly 40 per cent of Indians have paid for excess baggage while travelling.
More than 60 per cent of the surveyed respondents said they had not even used all the items that they had carried with them. Apart from having to pay extra baggage fee, it becomes difficult for travellers to carry their own baggage and they also end up paying for portage, which is expensive outside.
