Indian tourists biggest bargain hunters 

Hyderabad: Indian travellers are the world’s biggest holiday bargain hunters and they want more ways to pay when buying travel online, according to new research from Worldpay, a global player in payments.

Worldpay carried out a survey titled ‘Why Do They Pay That Way?’ across six world markets, polling around 2,000 travellers. In India, the survey revealed that more than three quarters of Indians (76 per cent) selected their travel destinations because of a sale of cheap flights and holidays.

What’s more, although 49 per cent of Indian travellers planned to use a credit card to book their next holiday, a stunning 96 per cent of Indian credit and debit card users said they would, in reality, prefer to book their package holiday using Net banking.

“Despite India’s relatively slow growth in travel spending, online travel sales are forecast to experience a significant rise in the coming years. To gain the loyalty of Indian shoppers, online travel agents must recognise that travellers in India are on the lookout for both bargains and new ways to pay online,” said

Phil Pomford, General Manager Asia Pacific, Global eCommerce, Worldpay. Although India has yet to match other emerging markets in internet and mobile penetration there are just 18 Internet users and 1.24 fixed broadband subscriptions for every 100 people, the country’s potential for growth is staggering.

India’s GDP grew 7.6 per cent in the 2015-16 fiscal year, and eCommerce spending is predicted to triple by 2019. Worldpay’s research affirms this trend, with the majority of travellers saying they prefer to do holiday research online (87 per cent).

Amongst the six markets surveyed, India also leads the way on m-commerce adoption with 65 per cnet of travellers saying they would be happy to use their smartphone to buy travel on the move. As India’s internet penetration and middle class continues to grow, online travel agents can expect to see more and more travellers booking holidays online.