YET TO CLICK: Results in contrast to India's position as world's 3rd largest web user; World Tourism Day tomorrow
India may be world's third largest internet user, but when it comes to holidays, Indians still rely on agents to purchase tickets. According to a study conducted by a leading insurance company, nearly 85 per cent and 78 per cent of travellers engaged agents for overseas and leisure trips respectively.
While only four per cent of the respondents booked their international journeys through online travel portals, about 20 per cent took to the internet to buy tickets for intra-country tours.
The findings are the result of a survey done by ICICI Lombard on the occasion of World Tourism Day, which is observed on September 27 every year across the globe.
The survey covered 1,063 respondents, who have had travelled to international as well as domestic locations, across a mix of metros and smaller cities, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.
Sanjay Datta, chief (underwriting & claims) of the risk firm said, "The survey reveals interesting trends in terms of Indians travelling more frequently and going on long tours, driven by higher disposable income and discounts."
Datta said Indian tourists give more importance to travel insurance for international tours as compared to domestic trips. Concerns over medical exigencies and baggage loss were the key reasons behind purchasing overseas travel insurance, he said.
Further, the survey showed that 25 per cent respondents have increased the frequency of their foreign trips in the past three-five years, while nearly 30% have done so in case of domestic circuits.
Off-season discounts were driving this behaviour for 39 per cent international travellers. On the other hand, unplanned trip was the key reason behind more frequent domestic tours for 57 per cent respondents.
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