A large section of Indian business travellers book their flights online, showing the highest propensity to use such services, even ahead of the Chinese and Japanese, revealed a study conducted by Singapore Tourism Board and travel technology firm Amadeus which said Indians are more “digital” than any other Asian nation’s. According to the study, 85 per cent Indian business travellers booked their flights online, and are keen to use and pay for such facilities.
“Indian business travellers demand digital services and are willing to pay for these and other add-ons from their own pockets,” said the study which explored business travel trends in five key Asian markets such as China, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and India. It also said that 64 per cent Indians preferred on line medium for their hotel bookings.
The study pointed out that India is the highest penetrated market for online bookings among the five countries. It is not surprising to see travel companies reporting a lion’s share of bookings through mobile applications and hotel chains rolling out digital check-in and checkout processes to woo Indians.
Business travellers from India are believed to seek freedom in their travel booking processes and prefer to make their own bookings via online portals. Many of them want to book directly with a provider or book using their company’s online booking tool.
“The conventional mode of booking tickets offline is fading away as Indians now want to be empowered and make their own bookings. Majority of our corporate customers have now shifted to online, wherein we have given them a booking tool with all the content and they can book their own tickets,” said Indiver Rastogi, chief operating officer and head, corporate travel, Thomas Cook India.
“One might think of Indians as budget conscious travellers, but the study said that Indians are most likely to splurge during business trips by personally paying for ancillary services. Indians were at the top when it comes to personal spending on business travel budget directed towards big-ticket items such as flight and hotel upgrades. “A significant chunk of Indian business travellers are millennial for whom 24×7 access to technology is imperative and Wi-Fi, thus, becomes one of the most-demanded and used ancillary service, both in-flight and during their stay,” said Rakshit Desai, managing director, FCm Travel Solutions and Flight Shop”
“Indians are willing to spend extra money for food that suits their taste, lounge access, priority check-in and seat-selection during trips. Globally, one out of every six business traveler is extending his trip to a ‘bleisure trip’ and Indian travelers are fast catching up on this,” added Desai.
The study found that the Indian business community is the most likely segment to not adhere to their company’s travel policies. India was second only to China in terms of extending business trips for leisure.
