Travel agents to be preferred

A new Travelport research has revealed that travellers in India will prefer to book through a travel agent now more than ever. The report also delves on some key trends it sees among Indian travellers, including their being safety-conscious. In fact, demand for almost every safety measure is the highest in India among the countries surveyed.

Travelport, in its new independent research, has revealed that travellers in India are now ready to consider booking domestic and international trips, but only if airlines, airports, hotels and car rental companies collectively implement 10 different safety measures throughout their journey, which includes fully flexible or refundable flight tickets. Another finding of the research was that the demand for almost every safety measure is highest in India of the five countries surveyed. It was also found that travellers found it critical that during all parts of the travel journey, they must have social distancing rules, mandatory use of face masks, and ready access to sanitising gel or wipes, face masks and gloves. Another revelation was that additional measures still need to be implemented by airlines, airports, hotels and car rental companies to fully restore consumer confidence.

Travelport’s Guide to  Recovery report also revealed. It also highlighted that globally, this trend was much more evident among millennials (44 per cent). Overall, around three-fourth of travellers in India (73 per cent, compared to 65 per cent globally) who claimed this said it’s because they feel travel agents are best placed to provide them with the latest travel safety information.

Air travel

More than half the travellers said that to consider booking a flight, they need to know in advance that a wide array of specific measures have been implemented by both the airport and airline. At the airport, these include temperature checks on arrival (66 per cent), plexi-glass at check-in desks (58 per cent), and managed boarding by row (56 per cent). When it comes to airlines, measures in high demand include enhanced cleaning (71 per cent) and disinfection (70 per cent), further temperature checks before boarding (66 per cent), socially distanced seating (66 per cent), and fully flexible or refundable tickets (64 per cent).

Hotels

The study revealed that for travellers to have the confidence to book a hotel room, the majority want six specific safety measures in place including enhanced cleaning (73 per cent) and guest services accessible via their mobile phone (51 per cent).

Car rental

Also, it was revealed that to book a car rental, majority of travellers want five key safety measures in place both at rental destinations and in vehicles, including contactless car collection and drop-off (55 per cent).

A clearer picture is a must-have today

“Travellers’ safety and consistent communication of respective safety measures, including frequent modifications, is of utmost importance to restore confidence in travel. Travelport’s latest study is a commendable step in this direction, one that will help travel agents understand ongoing procedures and identify opportunities to offer better  experience to end traveller.”