The tourism industry is growing at a high speed, with air travel being the key player. As per reports, advance flight booking is one of the most important factors behind this performance. Now-a-days, people do not have a lot of leisure time for themselves; hence, they plan their vacation trips much in advance. Knowing this trend, airlines also offer seats at a discounted price on advance bookings. An analysis done by industry expert shows that Indian travellers are inclined towards booking flight tickets in advance in case of both international and national trips. Latest developments in this sector; namely online booking and introduction of mobile applications are credited for this drastic change as well.
Earlier, people used to go to the counter or contact agents to get reservations for flights to Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai or other destinations. Whereas now, they just need a computer or mobile phone with an internet connection. As per the report, discounts, schemes and aggressive pricing by carriers boosted the travel industry revenue. These discounts attracted both business as well as leisure travellers and helped them in getting best deals for their trips. In case of international flights, most people made seat reservations 30 days before the travel date, and London and Dubai emerged as the top destinations. In case of domestic flights also, most of the bookings were done before 0 to 10 days before the travel date. Many passengers commuted between Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai in case of one-way trips, while Goa was also included in case of round bookings.
Another surprising element that surfaced in this research is that most of the reservations were done by using mobile phones. Delhi to Mumbai flights and Mumbai to Bengaluru flight booking by using mobile device increased two-fold. The transaction with highest value was made with an iOS operated devices, but in general more than 76 per cent booking were made by using Android devices. As most people travelled to or from Delhi and Mumbai, they were the busiest airports of the country followed by Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune in Tier I cities. In case of Tier II cities, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Goa airports were top three in the list, respectively. However, the trend is shifting and traffic at airports connecting smaller town is increasing significantly.
Airports are usually located in outskirts of cities that many times causes transportation issues. Hence, most people preferred flights between 6 to 7 am and 8 to 9 pm in metro cities. On the other hand, leisure tourists preferred flights operated between 12 and 1 pm or 5 to 6 am. Apart from this, increase in the flight plus hotel booking trend was also observed. These deals often save a great deal of money and apart from ensuring comfortable journey to the destination, they also ensures overall hassle-free travel trip. Travellers can grab such offers with domestic as well as international carriers. It has been observed that most of the schemes are announced by accommodation service providers or travel portals. However, in recent times, airlines are also coming up with similar deals to increase the number of passengers and promote tourism industry. Travellers can earn flier miles also by opting for specific hotels listed by program operators. However, it is advised that people go through terms and conditions thoroughly, as making changes in these deals includes a complex series of actions.
Martin Wynn
