Has Demonetization Really Changed Travel Trend in India?

It has been more than 2 months following demonetization in India. Many have debated that this is a revolutionary step which would bring in long term benefits to the Indian economy. However in the short term many sectors have been hit hard. This also includes the booming travel and hospitality sector as well. This has particularly hit the winter travel in India. As a result of which people have curtailed on overseas travel and preferred to explore various domestic tourist destinations. As a result of demonetization there has been a drop in hotel bookings up to as much as 60%. What is good news though is that with the new currency slowly coming back into the economy, we can hope that the situation should improve in the near future.

Post Demonetization, How Travel Trend in India Changed?

After the launch of the ambitious “Digital India” program the Government of India has indeed meant business. The initiative which was launched in September 2015 was mainly done to transform our country into a digitally-empowered economy. As a precursor to this, national fibre optic network had already been laid for this project. With time the initiative has gathered momentum. Thus following demonetization several steps are being taken by the Government of India to boost alternative payments modes. Thus this has encompassed all sectors. This has encompassed the travelling and hospitality sector as well.

India post demonetization has forayed into digital travel booking

India has now continued to foray into the digital travel booking for the New Year. There has been a surge in the mobile transactions in this sector too. Smartphone prices have come down crashing in India. This has led to a rapid mobile penetration into the Indian market. This has caused the Indian consumers for a growing use of mobile devices to book travel. Leading online travel portals are witnessing that the bulk of the hotel bookings are being done through website and mobile apps.

What is also being seen in the travel and hospitality industry is increase in the use of plastic money post demonetization. Survey done by a leading online travel web portal indicated the inclination of Indian travelers to use credit or debit card over cash. More than 37% travelers choose plastic money over cash for making bookings and while travelling. What is also very encouraging in case of online hotel bookings is that there has been a double digit growth and the same is expected throughout most of 2017. What is also being observed in recent times is that solo travelling has gained much popularity.

In conclusion we can say that following demonetization the travel and hospitality sector is indeed going through a rough time. However as things are gradually improving and as alternative modes of payments pick up in the economy, things would surely start becoming much better in the future. To stay updated with the latest in the sector please keep following our blogs.