Travel with Beckham!

British Airways released its ‘travel habit survey’ for travellers from India

British Airways conducted a research across selected countries in Asia Pacific from February to March this year and asked over 500 Indian participants about their travel habits.

Speaking about the survey Moran Birger, British Airways’ regional general manager, South Asia said, “The survey has revealed some very interesting insights about India’s leisure and business travellers. At British Airways, it is our constant endeavour to give our customers the best possible experience with us. The findings from the survey will help us to focus on making flying even better for our customers from India.”

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 501 Indian adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between February 25 and March 9. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of the urban population of adults in India (aged 18+).

Ideal travel buddy

The online survey revealed that iconic English footballer, David Beckham, is Indians’ first choice of British celebrity for a flying companion (32 per cent). In fact, David Beckham has also topped the lists in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. Other popular flying companion choices among travellers from India included ‘Harry Potter’ actress Emma Watson (29 per cent), who is also the favourite flying companion choice in Japan, Korea and Singapore whereas ‘James Bond’ actor, Daniel Craig, came in third with 24 per cent.

Euro tour for Potter, Holmes
Twenty-four per cent of Indian travellers picked Paris, France as the top dream destination in Europe followed closely by 20 per cent choosing London in the UK. Paris also tops the dream destinations list for travellers from China, Hong Kong Japan, Korea and Singapore.

Interestingly, nearly half (48 per cent) of the Indian participants were inspired to visit the UK following popular British movie ‘James Bond’, 42 per cent and 34 per cent of the respondents said they find their travel inspiration from ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes’ respectively. Travellers from China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore also voted Harry Potter as ‘the’ British movie that would inspire them to travel to the UK.

The ‘bonds’ of family
Compared with other countries, India was the most family focused. Sixty-four percent of Indians feel that the availability of family fun activities is the most important factor when choosing a holiday destination. Travellers from India also said that they will choose destinations based on historical landmarks and if the destinations come with great shopping choices.

When asked about their airport shopping preferences, most Indians said that they liked to buy food and drink items when they are travelling (27 per cent). While designer clothes and jewellery are close second for women (9 per cent and 10 per cent respectively), male travellers said that they liked buying perfumes or colognes (15 per cent) from the airport stores.

Hot on travellers’ list
• Over half of the participants give high priority to availability of restaurants and cafes when picking a new destination to visit.

• 41 per cent picked Oxford Street as the top shopping destination in London.

• 30 per cent of respondents look for designer outlet malls for discounted luxury goods.