ETW Staff– Mumbai
Women love to have their say and their travel preferences are no exception. Indian women travel as frequently as once in two months (50 per cent) with 44 per cent stating spending quality time with family as their common reason for travel, indicated ‘What Women Want’, a survey conducted by ixigo.com, travel planning and search engine along with Lemon Tree Hotels.
The survey confirms that women today have become very tech-savvy, with 43 per cent booking their hotels online and 76 per cent agreeing they only read user reviews to make their final choice.
Saurabh Srivastava, VP marketing and product strategy, ixigo.com, said, “With women climbing the corporate ladder and becoming more independent, travel is becoming an intrinsic part of their lives. Also, only women travel groups offering interesting holiday destinations and packages are luring women to take up travel. It is interesting to note that our survey indicates 26 per cent women travel with their girl gang to explore new places. Mobile apps is also clearly the way to go with 56 per cent women using smartphone apps to find information about their destination and plan their trip.”
Rattan Keswani, deputy managing director, The Lemon Tree Hotel Company, said, “The Lemon Tree Hotel- ixigo survey confirms our view that ladies prefer hotels that incorporate features that are women centric. At Lemon Tree Hotels we have created a women’s wing at all our properties with a host of women friendly amenities and services that aim to pamper our lady guests during their stay with us. Being a mid-scale brand we are also happy to know that the survey reveals that mostly mid-range priced hotels (50 per cent) feature as the top choice among women.”
Facilities and services were the top considerations for choosing which hotel to book for 41 per cent of the women surveyed, while location, cost and security came out as the other important ones.
On the amenities front, 24×7 room service was named the most important one (24 per cent), while free wi-fi (18 per cent), gym, swimming pool, spa and restaurants are some others that made their stay memorable.
While 34 per cent women prefers to have female hostesses for room service, offering call screening facility (20 per cent), women driven cabs (19 per cent) and separate floors for women (18 per cent) are some of the other suggestions given by women to make their stay comfortable and safer.
When asked about exclusive redemption options offered on loyalty programmes, shopping vouchers emerged as the favorite (27 per cent), closely followed by room nights (24 per cent) and spa therapy (22 per cent) clearly indicating – special benefits and exclusive offers go hand in hand with women.
