New Delhi: Foreign tourist boards are gearing up to meet the growing number of Indians who are travelling abroad and splurging. Starting direct flights is the first step.
Never mind the sluggish economy and poor sentiments, there's good news from the world of travel and tourism. India has emerged as the world's fastest-growing outbound market and in absolute numbers it is second only to China. The number of Indians travelling overseas is set to rise from around 15 million today to 50 million by 2020, according to Tourism Australia.
This will mean a big growth in spending overseas. According to a recently released Amadeus-Frost & Sullivan tourism industry report, Indians travelling to Asia-Pacific alone spent $13.3 billion in 2011. This figure is set to zoom to $91 billion by 2030, making Indians the second-biggest spenders, after China, in the world on overseas travel.
Not surprisingly, the world is taking note. Tourism Australia hopes to get 300,000 Indian tourists by 2020. South Africa Tourism Board too says India has become one of the key tourism generating nations for their country. Indian tourist arrivals to Thailand crossed the 1-million mark for the first time in 2012.
Thai Airways have recently started direct flights between Delhi and Phuket and Mumbai and Phuket to cater to the surging demand from Indians looking for wedding destinations and holidays. "Direct flights are a good precursor to the growth in tourist numbers," says Deep Kalra, founder, Makemytrip.com.
The introduction of direct flights between India and Istanbul has led to a sharp rise in Indian tourists travelling to Istanbul, Kalra notes. Spotting demand, Turkish Airlines today connects many Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad with Istanbul.
Travel to Meet Family
In pre-liberalisation days, with little disposable income and fewer options, holidays for most middle-class Indians were about visiting friends and families in India. It is a trend that is playing out well overseas among globetrotting Indians.
According to the Amadeus-Frost & Sullivan report, a high 43% of leisure travellers from India say visiting friends and relatives (VFR) was the main reason behind their overseas travel.
Partly this has to do with the growing diaspora — estimated by the government at 25 million but Kalra puts it at around 100 million. The VFR travellers behave differently than standard vacation travellers, says Ankur Bhatia, director, Amaedus India. "They travel for longer periods, and typically do not book hotels but stay with friends and relatives," he says.
Extended Weekends — Abroad
Weekend holidays in nearby hill stations are passe. Now with direct flights to a number of foreign tourist destinations, Indians would rather spend their extended weekends overseas.
Short-haul direct international flights — anything around five hours of flight time — are seeing the biggest growth, says Kalra. Maldives, Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE and Dubai are some of the important emerging destinations.
The fact that it is cheaper to travel and holiday in Thailand than in Kerala, and stay in better hotels, is a big incentive. Also noticeable is the fact that Indians are taking more frequent holidays.
According to the Makemytrip data, while Indians would typically take an international holiday once in 18-24 months five years back, the frequency is now once in 12-18 months.
New Niches, Customised Offerings
Of course the demand for packaged tours offered by companies like Cox & Kings is growing among Indians travelling overseas for the first time. But more and more globetrotting Indians are turning experimental, looking to customise trips, opting for offbeat destinations and newer experiences.
According to the Amadeus-Frost & Sullivan report, while the number of solo women and senior Indians (65 years-plus) travelling overseas is still a small category in both the business and leisure segments, it is likely to grow many fold by 2030.
Women business travellers, today pegged at 25% of the total, are set to rise by 891% by 2030. And senior travellers, currently pegged at 1.3 million, are set to rise to 7.3 million by 2030.
There is a small but growing category of Indian food lovers, says Himmat Anand, founder of Tree of Life Resort, who is a travel industry veteran having worked with Sita Travels and Kuoni India.
"Earlier, it was an afterthought. But now, food is becoming very important, especially at the upper end," he says. All this means that the companies in travel and tourism will have plenty of opportunities to differentiate themselves and customise their offerings to lure international travellers from India.
Growth at the Top and BOP
Experts see two categories of Indian travellers growing — at the top end and the bottom end — as incomes rise. This isn't true just for India but Asia Pacific at large.
From around 700 million people in the middle class in 2011, the number is set to touch 2.1 billion by 2030, signalling the rise of what is called the consuming class (annual household income of $5,000 plus). The biggest chunk of this growth will come from China and India.
India's middle class, the report estimates, will grow from the present 5% to 50% by 2030. Similarly, HNIs are expected to grow six fold by 2030 — from around 0.2 million in 2011 to over 1.2 million by 2030. This segment will fuel growth at the luxury end of the market.
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