HolidayIQ, India's largest travel community releases, “HolidayIQ Insights: Travel Trend Forecast 2016”, outlining predictions in the Indian travel industry for 2016. HolidayIQ Intelligence is conceived as a series of reports on varying aspects of Indian tourism. The Data Intelligence team at HolidayIQ.com, collates data from multiple user actions of more than 12 million monthly users on the HolidayIQ, analyses and identifies trends that have emerged on domestic vacations in India.
Key findings outlined below:
- 1.Experience-led travel continues to increase in 2016Holidays are becoming increasingly experience-led instead of destination led. Activity based travel has expanded to include options for adrenaline junkies to music lovers and from soul seekers to foodies and everyone in between. Trekking, rafting, kayaking, jet skiing, surfing, scuba diving and snorkeling, jungle safaris, food trails, rural tourism, glamping, wildlife immersive among others will be the norm in 2016. On HolidayIQ, there has been a growing interest in experiential holidays in the last 18-24 months. Travellers sign up for high octane adventure sports including Heli Skiing in Auli (Uttarakhand), Scuba Diving in Netrani Island (in the Arabian Sea), Dune Bashing in Jaisalmer, Hot Air Ballooning in Ranthambore, Sky Diving in Mysore, Zip Lining at Neemrana Fort (Delhi), Spelunking in Meghalaya or Kite Surfing at Morjim Beach (Goa).
2. Evolution of ‘in-trip planning’ Traditionally everything about a holiday – where to go, where to stay, how to reach, what to do, etc. was to be decided before the trip began. The arrival of mobile apps on the travel scene have essentially created a new paradigm in travel planning, the ‘in-trip’ paradigm. Today, travellers decide one or all of the trip planning questions on the go. In 2016, we see overall holiday planning to move gradually from ‘pre-trip’ to ‘in-trip’.
3. Domestic travel is increasingly becoming popular
According to data released by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in 2015, the number of foreign tourists arriving in India is 5.7 million, number of international trips planned by Indians travellers is 18 million and the number of domestic trips planned is 1290.1 million. The scale at which domestic travel is poised to grow is tremendous. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Wayanad, Shimla, Goa, Jaisalmer, Coorg, Srinagar, Darjeeling, Manali and Ooty are predicted the top domestic hotspots. In international travel; places like Dubai, Maldives, Thailand, Singapore and Bhutan shall pick up.
4. Women to travel more in 2016 In recent years, the number of trips planned by women travellers is increasing. Solo women travel is increasing and so are group, family and couple trips planned by women. Solo trips will continue to gain momentum in 2016 and the average trip length will also increase to be 5 - 7 days. Solo trips are gaining popularity across age groups and are extremely popular is the 18 – 24, 24-36 age groups. Destinations such as Kerala, Goa, Pondicherry, Manali, Auli, Shimla, Corbett, Bandipur, and Coorg will be favourites among women travellers. Interestingly, holidays planned by women have a 17% higher budget than holidays planned by men.
5. 2016 to witness a rise in alternate accommodation options such as homestays Hotels and resorts continue to be the popular choice as a holiday accommodation option accounting for over 60% of trips planned. However in the last 18-24 months there is an interest in alternate accommodation options such as homestays, experiential resorts, camps, serviced, apartments, jungle lodges and the like. The share of travellers choosing to stay in homestays has increased from under 10% in 2013 to 18% in 2015 and is slated to grow to more than 20% in 2016. In 2016 Munnar, Goa, Coorg, Udaipur, Pune and Manali shall have the most popular alternate accommodation options.
6. Travel to be more visual and social. The proliferation of smartphones, better internet penetration and arrival of a plethora of travel apps is making travel more visual and social. Sharing moments from holidays on the go has become a critical part of the holiday experience in itself. In a recent survey conducted by HolidayIQ, more than 67% of HolidayIQ travellers said they prefer smartphones for capturing travel photos, 16% travellers used both smartphones and DSLRs, 11% are DSLR purists, while 3% used a digital point-and-shoot camera. On the HolidayIQ app, for every photo reviews submitted via a desktop, 8 are submitted via the app. Travellers themselves are the largest inspiration for others to travel. ‘Social Travel’ the travel feed feature on HolidayIQ that is developed giving every traveller the ability to share and follow updates of other reviewers the traveller selects has garnered significant traction and this trend will continue to garner significance in 2016.
7. More unique destinations to be explored
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
No. of unique Destinations Indians explored within India | 685 | 984 | 1495 | 2000+ | 2300 |
Mode of Transport | Share of holidays planned |
Road Trips | 60% |
Buses | 27% |
Taxi | 14% |
4 Wheelers/2 Wheelers | 19% |
Trains | 24% |
Flight | 17% |
Budgets | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Average budget per person per night | 1086 | 1387 | 1886 | 2800 | 3764 |
Average Total Holiday Budget | 12585 | 16416 | 18643 | 26397 | 33368 |
Type of Travellers | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Couple | 33.9% | 40.0% | 45.3% | 50 % | 52% |
Family | 32.2% | 27.7% | 25.7% | 21% | 19% |
Group | 30.7% | 26.6% | 21.6% | 19% | 17% |
Single | 3.2% | 5.7% | 7.3% | 10% | 12% |
Metro V/s Non Metro | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
Metro | 61.5% | 56.5% | 49.8% | 45% | 47% |
Non-Metro | 38.5% | 43.5% | 50.2% | 55% | 53% |
Destination Theme | Percentage |
Hill | 37% |
Beach | 23% |
Heritage | 10% |
City | 7% |
Jungle | 4% |
Waterfront | 4% |
Desert | 0.3% |
Distance Radius | Distance Radius % |
300Kms | 48% |
201-300Kms | 37% |
101-200Kms | 12% |
0-100Kms | 3% |
Courtesy by www.businesswire.com