Published on : Friday, November 21, 2014
Travel and tourism have undergone a sea change lately.
Smart phones have practically changed the way world operated before their arrival.
Earlier, when the market operated through internet connection on personal computers, things were a tad slow since the clients came from a different class altogether.
But today, things are available literally at fingertips. All the best things are happening on the internet, and they are ensuring that the consumer is truly the king of the market!
A wary traveler today has transformed into an informed traveler, thanks to the internet. Potential of online travel market is the highest in India and will continue to remain so for more time to come.
The Indian travel market comprises 71% of e-commerce in India.
That means this is the decisive share of market that would change the rules of e-commerce game and its success in future. It is important to note that this business has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32% between the years 2009 and 2013.
Online travel sales that were studied from the beginning of this decade, projected that the sector would grow at a rate of 30% in India.
Among all other Asian countries, India is on top of the list of nations that would open its doors to travel and tourism in the online segment.
This is followed by South Korea, with growth projection at 19.8%, and Brazil at 18.2% and
China ranking fourth at 14.1%.
Some of the popular travel portals such as Makemytrip.com, Cleartrip.com, Yatra.com hold
more than 85% of the total market share in the sector.
Most trusted government agencies such as bus and railways have also been riding on this wave, having set up user-friendly online platforms that can help people with both information and travel plans.
Aviation industry, despite being in the red for the last few years, is still witnessing a great time with economy holding up.
Private players are leveraging on the trend that indicates high disposable income, reduced age of average travelers, and adventure tourism that is gradually catching up against the conventional travel patterns.
Though medical tourism cannot be considered as a significant part of the travel segment, it does contribute well into the travel and tourism revenues.
In fact, it brings two kinds of returns that are significant and substantial since people travelling in this category are usually from upper middle class.
Sports tourism is another off-shoot of tourism market that is beginning to catch fancy of the Indian middle class.
If the technology can get into tier-II cities and get down further into untapped markets, it can sure reap heavy benefits from sections of the society that have remained untouched so far.
However, as a note of caution, it is important to remember that the sector right now, that is exclusive for online presence of travel and tourism, is highly fragmented and distributed
unevenly in only urban areas.
Tags: tourism boosts sector in India
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