Changing Consumer Preferences in Travel Industry

GURUGRAM, India - May 12, 2021 - PRLog -- The travel and tourism industry has been badly affected by the ongoing economic and social crisis caused by COVID-19, with a huge drop in the international market as a result of global travel restrictions. The paradigm has shifted and to decode the changes, we, the students of SSCBS under the aegis of the University of Delhi conducted a survey on the Travel and Tourism industry to understand consumer preferences.

21st-century travelers are becoming more informed, more empowered, and are able to organize their trips independently. According to our research, 74.65 % of the respondents self-design their trips, 10.03 % use pre-planned packages and only 15.32% prefer travel agent-aided planning. The major reason being the digital era that allows tourism consumers to look for plenty of information on a brink of time and craft trips according to their own needs. Through our research, we found out that high pricing of the travel packages is the most significant problem that customers face.

The travel agency industry, which was once responsible for booking tickets and hotels, has now been nearly obliterated by online travel agents (OTAs)..Founder of Tripmagus, Piyush Jain quoted, "OTAs are the future of the travel industry. Where earlier travel planning used to be a complicated, anxiety-fraught exercise, travelers today feel much more in control of their bookings due to OTAs". The data from our survey shows that 82% of the respondents book their flights via OTA's while only a minor section i.e 4% and 6% of respondents refer to offline agencies and tour operators respectively. Additionally, the breakout of covid has made approximately 17 % of our respondents shift to online agencies from offline, while 73% already used online travel agencies.

One of the most difficult problems in the tourism industry is being able to include offerings that are specifically tailored to the needs of customers. And, as a result of the effect of technology on our lives, the environment is evolving at a faster pace. In an ever-changing market environment, travel providers must be ready to seize every opportunity that allows them to create a unique and meaningful experience for their customers. They have moved to the online medium (OTAs) which they believe is more convenient and independent resulting in wiping out of the travel agency business, which was once in charge of booking tickets and hotels. Based on the survey result, we can summarise that an online travel platform that integrates all the services needed by a customer while booking and planning a trip while also solving the problems such as pricing, on-trip support, and transaction support is something that customers want.