Growing at top speed
In these stressful days, consumers would love to take it easy and spend quality time with their family and friends. They would like to get away from their daily routine and be able to relax, explore and enjoy. So, the TraveLeisure industry is growing by leaps and bounds. Each component in the TraveLeisure industry is growing in top line and bottom line.
Let us look at the hospitality industry, which comprises hotels of all kinds. The growth in this industry has been phenomenal. Across brands, new hotels are coming up almost every week, in various parts of the country. Many existing hotels are expanding the number of rooms, keys and beds. This hotel category has also been able to segment itself to meet the needs of various classes of customers.
The Taj group (Indian Hotels), for example, has various brands, beginning with the premium end – Taj to Vivanta to the self-service Ginger. This group company, through its various brands, is able to cater to various segments and has boosted the TraveLeisure industry through the quality of its hospitality. Its presence covers almost every geography in India, with almost 300 properties and growing.
Similarly, the Marriot Bonvoy mother brand has various offerings, right from JW Marriot to Westin to Renaissance and many others. The quick spread of the Marriot family of brands across India has made it grow in a rapid manner. Other chains are doing well too – Oberoi/Trident, Kamat Hotels, Leisure Hotels, Lemon Tree and many others.
The hospitality sector, through various hotel offerings, has helped the TraveLeisure industry grow at top speed. With aspirations going up and the purchasing power increasing, the Indian consumer and Indian families have started indulging and exploring various parts of India and enjoying the travel leisure experience.
It is happening not only because of the affordability in terms of price or budget; affordability in terms of time also helps. As time is becoming scarce in India, Indian families are not able to take long vacations out of their towns or states. So, they have started indulging in ‘staycation’, over weekends, in their own towns.
Talking about time, timeshare brands and offerings have also contributed in growing and developing the TraveLeisure market. Some excellent examples are Mahindra Holidays and RCI. The timeshare offerings help families to plan in advance, have dedicated time zones and, through the process of deposit and exchange, are able to travel all over India and the world. It truly is an experience, wherein you can explore and enjoy and relax, participating in the TraveLeisure industry in its true sense.
One of the other major contributors to the growth of the TraveLeisure industry has been the airlines sector, where IndiGo, with over 64 per cent market share, leads. Its efficiency, punctuality, wide network and economy help the Indian consumer to fully participate in the TraveLeisure industry, with varied options of locations and timings.
The recent merger of Vistara with Air India, another player with a good brand name, has helped consumers travel leisurely to enjoy and relax at their favourite locations. Today, the airline industry, with its various brands, infrastructure, growing number of airports, increase in the number of aircraft and the growing number of new brands like Akasa, have truly contributed in giving a boost to the TraveLeisure industry.
In this industry, the modes of travel play an important role. With infrastructure improving in India, with roads, flyovers, subways, tunnels and bridges coming up, almost every day, the connectivity is improving drastically. This has helped the TraveLeisure industry grow at great speed, because of the improvement in the ease of travel.
Many a time, families plan road trips for vacations. With increase and improvement of roads, consumers are motivated to move from one part of a state to another part or from one part of the country to another part, easily. Road trips are becoming more enjoyable and also provide more leisure, with stopping along the way and staying in lodges and hotels, all planned in advance, help make the journey exciting and educative.
With new models of cars coming in a wide range of affordability, TraveLeisure through road travel has improved. Activity in this sector is said to be picking up fast, giving consumers access to the pleasure of visiting the countryside to observe and take in, the beauty of our land.
Rail travel has been greatly aided by the Vande Bharat brand, which has helped people travel across the country in comfort and style. Short cruises too have enhanced the Indian TraveLeisure industry, with the use of waterways and the sea expected to aid the growth further in the next few years.
Indians enjoy TraveLeisure not just within India. With their aspirations growing, as also their pocket, travelling overseas across various continents and countries, has become commonplace. Whether it be by air or by sea, Indians are now enjoying the flavour of TraveLeisure abroad. And, be it in India or abroad, there are many options that the consumers can avail to enjoy TraveLeisure – be it to the beaches in Goa or Miami, or pilgrimages to Ayodhya or the Vatican, or the mountain ranges like the Himalayas or the Swiss Alps.
The marketers now have many options to put forward their brand offerings to the consumers in India and abroad. The TraveLeisure industry has become dynamic, aided by a variety of languages, cultures. While the people from India travel abroad, people from other countries travel to India too, opening up venues of opportunities. This offers unlimited worldwide potential and scope for travel at leisure.
There are ancillary opportunities in the TraveLeisure industry, such as entertainment, which travel agencies and bookings facilitate, with both off-line and online travel agents also contributing. Another big avenue in terms of revenue is the F&B sector. Food and beverages offer a golden opportunity whenever you travel, especially if it is leisure travel. Just as cultures and languages vary, so does the cuisine worldwide.
While there are many opportunities available for the TraveLeisure industry to grow, there needs to be good support and facilitation in terms of service in the industry and also in terms of infrastructure. Every country and every state is trying to woo the consumer, to come and visit its locations and enjoy themselves. Many countries and many states actually achieve a large part of their GDP through the TraveLeisure industry.
So, the officials, be they of countries, states, individual regions or towns, need to put in extra effort to attract consumers to their part of the world and highlight their specialties – historical places, geographical features, picturesque locations, animal reserves and architectural wonders. And, if there is no support at the official level in a particular country, state or area, there is a possibility that another country, state or area could take away those consumers.
Interestingly, attractions in both Bollywood and Hollywood are used aggressively to lure consumers to destinations. This means there is competition not only amongst brands, states or locations, but also amongst countries to take a large market share of this growing TraveLeisure industry.
From the consumer behaviour point of view, brand marketers have great scope. If we look at the number of people travelling – solo, couples, families, group of friends, or corporates – adapting and customising marketing offerings to these segments is a wonderful opportunity.
Again, from a consumer behaviour perspective, some look forward to getting educated, some want to experience history, some want to enjoy nature, while some want to understand languages and cultures. Different needs offer different opportunities.
Brand marketers need to look at this TraveLeisure opportunity, and cater to this market, to grow the company in terms of top line and bottom line. While consumers will travel at leisure, brand marketers must hurry to capture this market.