Mumbai, Mar 21: Growing disposable incomes and the rise of millennials are making the travel and hospitality sector rapidly adopt various tools, technologies and digital platforms to improve customer experience, says a report.
“We are in a digital era and travel and hospitality is not an exception. The rampant penetration of smartphone has transformed the travel consumption pattern of the end user,” FICCI Consultant, Tourism, Rahul Chakravarty said while commenting on the KPMG and FICCI report – ‘Expedition 3.0: Travel and hospitality gone digital’.
India was projected to have accounted for 3.7 per cent of the global digital travel sales — making it the third-largest market by value in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, according to the report.
The online sales of travel booking is likely to increase at 14.8 per cent annually during 2017–21, it added.
In addition, the proliferation of smartphones, internet and technology-driven tools and platforms is acting as a catalyst for speedy digitisation of the travel and hospitality sector, it said.
Online sale of travel bookings in India is expected to increase at a healthy rate of 14.8 per cent annually from Rs 151.27 crore (USD 22.3 billion) in 2017 to Rs 262.57 crore (USD 38.7 billion) by 2021, it said.
While the adoption of these tools, technologies and platforms is rising across the travel and hospitality sector, it may not be considered to be directly correlated with innovation, as innovation is also about the minor tweaks in the ways these tools are utilised to add more value for customers, it added.
It said, India is also witnessing a growth in technology-driven start-ups in the travel space.
These start-ups are influencing the industry with their niche offerings — complementing the traditional players in some ways and disrupting them in others, it added.
“Digital revolution in the travel space is on. Brands are embracing technology to transform themselves into experience platforms while automating operations. Corporate and consumer travel boundaries are already blurred. Incumbents are adapting swiftly to the emerging bouquet of travel start-ups. Creative digital business models will continue to reshape the future of travel,” KPMG India Partner and Head -Transport, Leisure and Sports, Jaideep Ghosh said.
