ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to gain insights and closely examine the travel behaviour and
preferences for middle income family group. Rapidly changing socio-economic environment
technological advancement has given the travelers a spectrum of options to choose from along
with various tour packages. The main objective of this project is to find out the determining
factors considered by travelers while choosing the travel and tour destinations. The prominent
findings of the study showcased that majority of the people prefer vacation once or twice in a
year. Hill stations are the most preferred destinations , followed by beaches for travel and tours.
One of the interesting finding is that the selection of destination is highly influenced by family
members.

PRESENT SCENARIO

In present era tourism is one of the largest service industry in India, with an estimated
contribution of 6.23% to the national GDP and constituting 8.78% of the total employment. India
caters to more than 5 million annual foreign tourist arrivals and close to 562 million domestic
tourism visits. The tourism industry in India accounted for a total revenue of $100 billion in 2008
which is expected to shoot up to $275.5 billion by 2018 at a striking rate of 9.4% annual growth
rate. The Ministry of Tourism is the main agency for the development and promotion of tourism
in India .

India is holds 11th place in the Asia Pacific region and 62nd overall, on the list of the world's
most attractive destinations. It is ranked the 14th best tourist destination for its vivid natural
resources and 24th for its humongous cultural resources, with many World Heritage Sites, both
natural as well as cultural, strong creative industries, rich flora and fauna in the country. The
Indian travel and tourism industry has been ranked 5th in the long-term (10-year) growth and is
speculated to be the 2nd largest employer in the world by 2019.India has been considered as
the "best country brand for value-for-money" according to the Country Brand Index (CBI) survey
conducted by a leading global brand consultancy.

FACTORS AFFECTING TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR

The research scrutinized by several authors of this study is varied but can be divided into two
broad groups: namely into those papers that study the impact of urban form on travel behaviour
and another form those that study socio-demographic and lifestyle factors that may play a
critical role in determining the travel behaviour of middle income family group. A number of the
papers combine the elements of the urban and sociodemographic form debate. The most
important socio-demographic variables that impact the travel behaviour include age, household
composition, income group, gender and car ownership.Many of the papers also make the
distinction between travel for work purposes and travel for maintenance purposes as defined
earlier and how these travel activities will be influenced by urban form and sociodemographic
variables

RESEARCH & METHODOLOGY

One among the worlds largest renowned online travel agency Expedia, released the Holiday
Activity Report 2015, which comprises of an analysis of travel behaviour and preferences across
various cities in India. The survey was conducted with 520 respondents across major cities like
Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. The survey highlights that 48% Indians travel
for a specific set of holiday activities during summer and decide their destinations accordingly.
Holiday activities are picking up amongst Indian travellers. This is clearly evident from the fact
that almost half of them decide the activities and then plan their destination this year. The
traveller evolution is happening at a faster pace now that they have access vast amounts of
information available at review sites, OTAs and metasearch portals. They have much more
clarity than 5 years back and play a critical role in travel planning. While 56% Indians preferred
to travel in peak season, 44% chose off season. More than their budgets, they are anxious
about wasting time, standing in long queues for tickets to theme parks and museums (22%),
with uncertainty on ticket availability as well.
The survey also revealed that 48% Indians are interested in cultural events like Carnivals,
Oktoberfest and Tomatina festival. 55% wish to check out the city specific activities & cultural
performance. 31% Indians wish to explore the city with locals and enjoy knowing their culture
and 48% Indian talk and interact more with the locals. 30% wish to indulge in adventure sports,
whereas 21% are curious collectors 47% Indian want to discover unexplored destinations.
Following are the detailed findings of the survey:
67% Indians decide the destination first and then plan activities
Delhiites(Residents of Delhi) lead the pack at 72% followed by Pune (70%), Bangalore (69%)
and Mumbai (68%). Almost 33% Indians travel for a specific activity/ experience.Hyderabadis
are top experience junkies at 45%, while the least being Delhiites (28%).
While 56% Indians preferred to travel in peak season, 44% chose off season. Bangaloreans
being the highest to prefer off season at 55%. Key reasons include- better deals on flights &
hotels (60%), less crowd (56%), no children running around making noise (33%), easier to get
leave (27%), better service in hotels (24%). Hyderabadis are least interested in travelling in off-
season at 32%.
Indians travellers who are most anxious about landing the best deals (40%), trip partners
backing out at last minute (23%), standing in long queues for tickets to theme parks and
museums (22%), budget (20%), shopping gifts for friends & relatives (17%)
Those who prefer getting the best deals:
Hyderabadis(Residents of Hyderabad) (45%) and Puneites(Residents of Pune) (42%) most
anxious, while Bangaloreans (Residents of Bangalore )and Delhiites least anxious at 37%.
Trip partners backing out at last minute: Puneites (30%) & Delhiites (26%) most anxious,
Bangaloreans (16%) & Mumbaiites (22%)
Standing in long queues for tickets to theme parks and museums: Delhiites (28%) lead,
followed by Bangaloreans (23%), Puneites (23%), Hyderabadis (22%); least anxious
Mumbaiites (18%)
Budget: Hyderabadis (25%) & Mumbaiites (23%) lead while Delhiites dont care as much (17%)
Shopping gifts for friends and relatives: Hyderabad (25%) & Delhiites (24%) top the list,
while Bangaloreans (5%) and Mumbaiites (8%) arent bothered as much
Indians travelers least anxious about Excess baggage (2%) and asking for leaves (4%)
Mumbaiites (8%) and Puneiites (7%) most anxious about asking for leaves

Booking Activity
57% Indians prefer to book online while booking their flights and hotels, while 18% prefer to get
the activity tickets from the hotel concierge. 25% Indians book the holiday activity ticket at the
venue itself
Advance booking while booking flights & hotels: Bangalore (71%) Delhi (62%), Hyderabad
(57%), Pune (48%) and Mumbai (45%)
From Hotel concierge: Delhi (26%), Pune (20%), Mumbai (18%), Hyderabad (17%) and
Bangalore (10%)
At the venue: Mumbai (37%), Pune (32%), Hyderabad (26%), Bangalore (19%) and Delhi
(12%)
For 60% Indians, booking online is easier and 37% find more activity options available. 33%
Indians get more suggestions on popular tours/ activities and for 30% its economical.
Easy to book: Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore (57%), Delhi (54%) and Hyderabad 40%
Offers more activity options: Bangalore (42%), Delhi (40%), Mumbai (35%), Hyderabad at
34% and Pune 32%
Offers suggestions on popular tours/activities: Bangalore 35%, Delhi 34%, Hyderabad and
Pune at 32% and Mumbai 31%
Economical: 35% from Mumbai, 34% from Delhi, 28% Hyderabad, 26% Pune and 25% from
Bangalore feel this way. 67% Indian vacationers resilient to currency fluctuations, Delhi on top
(72%), Hyderabad at bottom (53%)
If the dollar got cheaper
66% Indian travelers will spend more on activities while 55% will extend the days of the vacation
Bangaloreans (83%) & Delhiites (77%) have the highest propensity to spend on activities, while
Hyderabadis have the least (53%).
Pune-ites (64%), Delhiites (63%) & Hyderabadis (60%) take the lead in extending vacation
days, least being Mumbaiites (40%).31% will try and squeeze in nearby destinations and 29%
will spend more on shopping.Delhiites choose to spend the highest in shopping amongst other
cities (63%) followed by Bangaloreans (31%), Hyderabadis (21%), Mumbaiites (21%)
Only 14% will upgrade their hotel accommodation.Delhiites (23%) and Mumbai (21%) lead the
pack
If the dollar got expensive
63% Indian travelers would cut down on shopping.Pune-ites the highest to cut down on
shopping at 75% followed by Bangalore at 66%,Mumbaiites least to cut down shopping at 57%
38% would look at shifting to a more affordable destination.Mumbaiites most willing at 52%,
while Bangaloreans (24%) are least willing to
32% would avoid places of interest that are ticketed
Mumbaiites (48%) & Puneiites (46%) most conscious while Delhiites are least conscious at
(37%).32% would downgrade hotel star category.Delhiites (43%) & Bangalore (38%) on top to
downgrade on the hotel category while Mumbaiites (21%) track at the bottom . 25% would
reduce vacation days,Mumbaiites lead the list at 33% followed by Hyderabad at 27%,
Bangaloreans (17%) and Puneites (18%) least willing to reduce vacation days
What do we actually do on a vacation? Absorb a new experience!!!
36% Indians wish to explore River/Sea Cruise and Theme Parks and 34% wish to head to
Beaches this year. Only 6% Indian wish to visit the Deserts and 10% to the Casinos and
Countryside with lakes. 39% travelers from Pune and 38% from Bangalore are the most
interested to go to the Beach this year whereas only 28% from Mumbai wish to go to the
beaches .31% Bangalorean and 30% from Pune wish to travel to the snow-capped mountains
and only 14% from Hyderabad wish to visit there. 40% from Bangalore and 38% from Mumbai
wish to go for a River/Sea Cruise ,9% each from Pune and Mumbai wish to go to the deserts
this summer and only 1% Bangaloreans wish to travel there. Theme Park is another attraction
that has picked up with 42% from Hyderabad and 39% from Pune interested.
Only 21% people from Delhi and Pune would like to visit a Spa Retreat this summers
25% travelers from Hyderabad would like to take a trip to Forests/National Reserve and Safari .
48% Indians are interested in cultural events like Carnivals, Oktoberfest, Tomatina and 26% are
interested in Sports/ Adventure sports .100% Pune-ites are interested in attending music and
cultural events and they have no interest in Food/wine, Art & History, Exhibitions, Movie or
theatre fest. 67% Mumbaikars(Residents of Mumbai) are interested in Cultural Fest and 50% in
Food/Wine. 50% Delhi-ites wish to go for sports and adventure and only 33% wish to attend
cultural fests
Activities on mind
94% Indians are shopaholic wherever they go and 55% wish to check out the city specific
activities & cultural performance. 47% Indian want to discover unexplored destinations
100% people from Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune wish to shop even while travelling
71% from Pune and 64% from Mumbai wish to enjoy city specific activities and cultural
performances while only 38% from Hyderabad . Discovering unexplored destinations are
enjoyed by Pune at 57% at Mumbai at 50% .Experimenting with local cuisines and drinks gauge
interest by only 57% travelers from Mumbai. Day excursion and river/sea cruise create
maximum interest from Indians when travelling for vacation at 59% and 48% respectively.
Whereas, only 11% wish for a Luxury car drive. 67% travelers from Hyderabad and 60% each
from Pune and Delhi wish to enjoy the river/sea cruise, whereas only 33% from Mumbai wish to
do that
Adventure sports only interests from 60% Delhi-iets and 33% from Mumbai whereas 0% from
Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune wish to do that. Day Excursion is something that everyone
wants to try out, 100% of Hyderabad and 60% of Delhi, Bangalore, Pune wish to do it
Club crawling & Pubbing and Guided tours to Red light areas has 40% of Bangaloreans
interested. Cabarets/Lido/Tiffanys Show has 67% from Hyderabad and 40% from Bangalore,
Delhi and Pune interested.
Indulgences Galore!
31% Indians wish to explore the city with locals and 30% wish to indulge in Adventure sports,
whereas 21% are curious collectors. 20% wish to sleep during their vacation and 15% Indians
wish to overeat.24% Delhi-ites and 23% Hyderabadis wish to enjoy their vacation sleeping. 22%
Bangalorean, 18% Pune-ites and 14% Mumbaikars fall in the same category. 17% each of
Delhi-ites and Bangalorean wish to eat till they dont fit in their cloths. Followed by 14%, 13%
and 12% respectively by Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai.
17% Delhi-ites and 16% Hyderabadis enjoy Shopping for stuff they dont need followed by 9%,
8%, 7% respectively by Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai.37% Pune-ites and 33% Mumbaikars
wish to enjoy adventure sports whereas only 22% Hyderabadis wish to do that.39%
Bangaloreans like to explore the city with the locals compared to 21% Pune-ites.28% Pune-ites
are curios collectors topping the list compared to 17% Bangalorean.13% Mumbaikars wish to
spend on Spa treat to detoxify & rejuvenate and only 9% Hyderabadis enjoy the same
Yes, we are Social Beings!!!
25% Indians either never post on social media during vacation or do so once they are back from
vacation.25% Pune-ites post multiple times on social media and 0% Bangaloreans wish to do
that during vacations.35% Delhiites prefer to not post anything on social media while they are
on vacation compared to 8% from Pune.28% Delhiites prefer to post once a day on social media
while on vacation and only 20% Mumbaikars do the same.30% Pune-ites post at-least once a
week on social media and only 16% do the same during vacation.48% Indian talk and interact
more with the locals and 28% dont interact much with locals.54% from Bangalore top in
interacting with locals and at 39% Delhi is the least interested.15% from Hyderabad wish to
mingle/hang out with Indians and 9% from Bangalore wish to do the same.14% Bangaloreans
wish to avoid Indian who are loud & litter around whereas only 10% Delhi-ites wish the same
30% from Pune wish to be on their own and dont interact much whereas 26% from Bangalore
and Mumbai feel the same

Methodology
The study was conducted on behalf of Expedia by Access Media International, a globally
integrated strategic insights consulting firm. This survey was conducted online from April 15 to
May 12, 2015 across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. The study was
conducted among 520 employed adults from middle income family group aged 24 years or
older.