TravTalk India Online Magazine
Nearly two in five affluent consumers in India plan to take wider group holidays in the next 12 months, states a research by YouGov, which gets under the skin of high-end travel to understand what luxury travel looks like post-pandemic in 18 international markets.
The pandemic has fuelled the appetite for travel across the globe, and nearly three in five urban Indians (57 per cent) state that travel has become more important to them since the pandemic compared to one in eight (12 per cent) who disagree with the statement, reveals a research by YouGov.
Agreement is higher among affluents in India, with three-quarters of them saying that travel has become more important to them since the pandemic, states the YouGov’s Global travel & tourism whitepaper 2023, which covered 18 international markets. The research gets under the skin of high-end travel to understand what luxury travel looks like post-pandemic. It focuses on the attitudes and behaviours of affluent consumers, particularly the affluent under 35 years of age – the audience that will shape the luxury travel industry of the future.
“Looking specifically among the affluent travellers in India, we see that travelling with a wider group of family or friends continues to be the top travel activity year on year. Almost two in five (37 per cent) have travelled with a wider group in the past 12 months, and the same proportion intend to do so in the forthcoming 12 months. Even though this is the top activity, taking a luxury rail trip sees the largest increase (of +8 per cent points) from the previous year. Another travel activity that affluent Indians are planning on undertaking to a greater extent in the next 12 months is taking a longer holiday than usual or taking a cruise (+5 per cent points each),” the report states.
Moreover, the research reveals the priorities of global affluent travellers for their next travel destinations. Safety is the primary travel priority among global affluent travellers (at 37 per cent), followed by a desire to experience diverse cultures (36 per cent) and great local attractions (33 per cent).
Among the affluent people in India, most of the parameters rank higher, but safety is the top priority (at 42 per cent). For a third, having a once in a lifetime experience (34 per cent), quality services (33 per cent), improving their health and wellness (33 per cent) and experiencing different cultures (33 per cent) are important when choosing their next travel destination.
Compared to global affluents, they are more likely to prioritise a once in a lifetime experience (34 per cent Indian affluents vs 25 per cent global affluents) and having a personalised experience (20 per cent vs 12 per cent), and less likely to focus on learning something new (32 per cent vs 28 per cent).
Enjoying luxury accommodations, having the best culinary experiences, visiting remote destinations, and doing things few others can do resonate with affluent consumers and luxury travelers who will be looking for brands, experiences and travel companies that understand their individual needs and unique requirements.
Methodology
The insights in this report are drawn from a recent global YouGov Custom survey to understand what luxury travel looks like post pandemic, explore luxury travel experiences, what affluent consumers are seeking and their future travel aspirations. Covering 18 global markets of more than 19,000 respondents, the survey results were further bolstered by connecting respondent level data to YouGov’s proprietary syndicated data solution, Global Travel Profiles, allowing YouGov to merge their respondents and their answers to the 100,000 consumer attributes that they collect on an ongoing basis for audience segmentation and profiling. The survey was fielded in the week of 9th to 23rd November 2022. Data for India is based on a national online sample (of 18+) of 1007 respondents.
