‘Indians love to shop’

Activities and attractions are not the only that Indian travellers love to do; shopping is a great draw for them too! TRAVTALK talks to a few travel agents to find out their clients’ choices and shopping destinations.

Hazel Jain

Indians have always loved shopping, especially when travelling abroad. But over the past few years, the interest has gone a notch higher. Nagsri Sashidhar, Chief Happiness Officer, NAGSRI Creating Special Memories, who creates bespoke itineraries for her high-end clients, says, “We are noticing that clients are ensuring that they now factor in some dedicated time for shopping. We see this trend among the millennials and families more than any other segment. In fact, we create itineraries specially around shopping. Depending on the city they are going to, we keep at least one entire day or even more dedicated to shopping alone. My clients love everything from luxury brand shopping, normal mall shopping, local shopping, outlet malls to handicrafts shopping.”

Mentioning some of the popular places for this, Sashidhar adds, “USA for outlet malls, Thailand, Vietnam, Milan, Paris, Spain, Italy, Singapore and Dubai have always been popular. A few outlets across Europe have shown keen interest in the Indian market and have come up with several VIP benefits that makes shopping here very special, affordable and a complete pleasure. McArthurGlen Designer Outlets and Chic Outlet Village are two
such products.”

Segment agnostic

When it comes to shopping, there is no specific segment that indulges in it. Anshu Tejuja, Managing Director, Ashoka Dream Holidays, says, “Indians love shopping. A lot of them don’t shop much in their own city but when they are travelling, shopping is the highlight of the trip. So, it is very crucial for them to include it in every international vacation. Indians love brands and they love good deals! We have so many of our clients going to Europe for McArthurGlen Designer Outlets. Indians largely like to buy brands when they are travelling because its cheaper with no tax and duties as compared to India. Shopping is not limited to any traveller segment – whether it is FIT, couple, family or even corporate, they all love to shop!”

Shopping indulgence

Shopping has always been an integral part of tourism activities. Tourists purchase things or brands they cannot find in their home country or find the same goods at a more reasonable price. Sometimes, they are just collecting some memories in the form of a souvenir. However, recently the trend of travelling primarily for shopping has increased, especially among luxury travellers, says Sandeep Arora, Head, Brightsun Travel. “Dubai is a good example of this trend where people go solely for luxury shopping. With the pandemic almost over, people are travelling now more than ever and they are booking in advance to save money.”

Pranav Kapadia, Founder Director, Global Destinations, agrees. He says, “Shopping has always been an important part of any holiday for Indian travellers. Even when we travel, we shop like there is no tomorrow. And its attractiveness has only increased. I have had clients going to Greece where we have an office, and they have shopped in Santorini and Mykonos also! You may think what you could possibly shop on an island except souvenirs but it has many lifestyle and fashion stores as well. We have had a lot of luxury clients this year who have splurged on shopping.”

India a huge source market

Speaking about how his outlets are receiving more and more Indians, Mathias Sinner, Manager, Senior International Markets, McArthurGlen Group, says, “We know that Indians love to shop while they travel; it is an important activity for them. They also like a good deal and look for discounts while shopping. That is why we believe our brand and our product fits very well with this market and there is a lot of attractiveness for the Indian travellers when they come to Europe. We offer anything between 30 per cent-70 per cent off the normal retail price – that’s standard across all our outlets all year round. But we also have sale season where you get even more discounts. We also know how important VAT refunds are for Indian travellers. Our biggest outlets, especially those favoured by Indian travellers, have in-centre tax refunds. Getting these refunds at the airport is tedious and time consuming so we offer these services at our outlets. Shopping really adds to the local economy so it benefits the destination as well.”