Chennai: Its vacation time, while many loosen the purse strings others may work on shoe-string budget. Nevertheless, travel appears to be very much on the cards of Indians who are third most frequent travellers in Asia-Pacific region, after Thais and Japanese. And, Indians are number one in having engaged with an airline over social media about their travel experiences while at the airport, at the gate, or on the plane.
According to the 2018 Flight and Hotel Etiquette study, an annual survey on flight and hotel behaviour of travellers across 23 countries in the world conducted by Expedia, world’s largest full service online travel agency, Indians are numero uno globally to often engage in a conversation, when sitting next to someone they don't know (59%) and probably the reason why 70 % Indian travellers also dread sitting next to someone who talks too much.
Says Manmeet Ahluwalia, Marketing Head, Brand Expedia in India, “the findings are a testimony of the growth in traffic being experienced by the aviation industry, as Indians are the 3rd most frequent travellers in Asia-Pacific region, with average 7.6 flights per year after Thailand and Japan. Indians are also increasing shifting to technology as 67 % Indians check-in online while 18 % check-in on mobile and the country stands at number 2 in terms of people using the boarding pass on a mobile device (29%) after Thailand.”
Indians find seat kicker/bumper/grabbers (32 %,), inattentive parents (30 %, and audio insensitive passengers (30 %), most annoying in a flight or at the airport. Despite these factors, Indians agree that generally, airline travel is fun and exciting (89%,) and for most part, fellow passengers are considerate of other passengers (80%).
Indian travellers prefer big chain hotel (29%) followed by vacation - holiday rental (22%, ), boutique hotel (15%) and short-term room rental (11%,) the most.
The least preferred accommodations include hostels (39%) and bed and breakfasts with shared bathrooms (29%).
