Europe still a hotspot for discerning Indian travellers
Favourable exchange rates and the rise of the ‘discerning’ traveller sees Indians choosing the beaches, sites and shopping of Europe over the US
In India, spend on outbound travel is expected to rise from 3.9% in 2009 to 5.9% in 2015, according to a World Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2015 report. And if a recent study by trip-planning tool Inspirock stacks up, then many travellers from across the sub-continent will choose Europe over the US.
Inspirock, in which Indian OTA MakemyTrip acquired an 18% stake in June, gathered data from 11,797 Indian travellers searching its site for what to do in the US and Europe. Across India, Europe was the destination of choice for Indian travellers but where they decided to head and what they chose to do varied by region. Indians from the northeast, for example, are most likely to head to England, while those from the south favour Italy and in the east, Germany comes out tops.
“The study was based on data gathered from our internal database of Indian users and represents travellers that use the internet,” says Prakash Sikchi, co founder of Inspirock.
Explaining the trend further, Sikchi says Europe has always popular with Indian travellers because of its location and the appeal of its attractions. He adds that: “Recent trends such as the rise of the discerning international traveller and favourable exchange rates have further helped Europe’s popularity in India”.
Take a look at the hotspots on Inspirock’s recent infographic
