50 million - It’s the number of outbound Indian travelers the UNWTO expects by 2020, that’s nothing to sneeze at and worth a whole lot more to the travel industry than a mere million dollars and in fact, entirely new segments could arise just from catering to this massive number of travelers, but the burning question remains – just what do Indian travelers want? This is precisely what our study, Journey of Me Insights: What Indian travelers want, sought to find out.

From when and how Indian travelers plan and book their trips, to how and why they want to stay connected while travelling, to how frequently they use sharing economy services, and the types of new technologies they would be most interested in, this study takes a multi-faceted look at what Indian travelers want.

Here are a few insights we found out from our survey of 1,200 Indian travelers.

Personalization or privacy?

64% of Asia Pacific travelers are open to sharing personal information with travel service providers for more relevant offers and personalized services, but Indians are more open with 71% willing to share data.

Recommendations that matter

Travelers in Asia Pacific are most interested in tips that help them save money (37%). However, recommendations that help them ensure their safety are more favored amongst Indian travelers (33%), compared to only 27% of Asia Pacific travelers who chose the same.

Opportunities to inspire

39% of Indian respondents do most of their travel planning during weekends, which is higher than the regional average (32%), followed by others options like during holidays (24%), after work on weekdays (17%) and while at work (13%). Only 7% of respondents plan their travel while commuting from one place to another.

Reasons to stay connected

Indian travelers have quite different reasons for staying connected while travelling compared to other Asia Pacific travelers. 52% want to keep up to date with what is happening in the world (compared to 43% across Asia Pacific), 46% want to stay updated with work/business (vs. 32% Asia Pacific wide), and 43% want to use apps to meet new people using travel and social apps (compared to only 28% across Asia Pacific).

Speak my language

Finding service staff who speak a language they can understand is important to 71% of travelers from India. In contrast, only 47% of Asia Pacific travelers would rank the same as important.

Safety updates

Interestingly, Indian travelers look to their service providers to provide them with updates on safety or security while they’re travelling e.g. Booking sites (55% vs 49%), hotel (50% vs. 41%), tour operator (47% vs 38%) more than other Asia Pacific travelers.

Visit our Journey of Me Insights website and unlock the million dollar question of what do Indian travelers want? You’ll also be able to get insights on reports from 14 different countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Karun Budhraja is Vice President, Corporate Marketing & Communications, Amadeus Asia Pacific