According to a Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Nielsen India research, Asian destinations have become the most travelled for Indian travellers. The Indian outbound market is maturing and among the new trends pointing to this is their inclination to look beyond traditional Western destinations, says the research. The Nielsen India Outbound Travel Workshop, which took place at PATA Travel Mart 2008 in Hyderabad yesterday, provided delegates with a deeper understanding of the much talked about Indian outbound travel market. Organised by PATA's acclaimed Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC), the workshop was much-appreciated by PATA Travel Mart sellers interested in tapping the vast Indian travel market.

Senior-level experts, from research firm Nielsen, led the workshop with a detailed presentation of the latest findings from the ‘Nielsen Indian Outbound Travel Monitor'. The study which was released at the Mart, is geared for use by tourism marketing and sales professionals and explores the behaviour and considerations of the ever-growing and changing outbound Indian traveller. According to Vatsala Pant, Workshop Lead Presenter and Associate Director- Client Solutions, Nielsen India, "Travellers from the small Tier II Indian cities are bigger spenders than those from Tier I cities."

According to the research, from 1996-2006, the Indian outbound market expanded by an unprecedented ten per cent annually, well above the world average. Latest figures put outbound growth at 16 per cent in 2006. India is now acknowledged as a key global outbound travel market. The Nielsen presentation was followed by a dynamic moderated discussion with executives from major Indian travel companies Cox and Kings, Jet Airways, Kuoni Travel and Mercury Travels, sharing their insights into the challenges and opportunities in the Indian market.

"The Indian traveller is looking for new destinations and innovative experiences," said Ashwini Kakkar, Workshop Moderator and Executive Vice-Chairman, Mercury Travels, who gave the amazing statistic that there are 56 billionaires (worth in dollars) in India, and 1,26,000 millionaires (worth in dollars). The size of the Indian middle class currently stands at somewhere over 350 million, roughly the size of the population of the US and is growing at an estimated 40-50 million a year. It is estimated that more than half of these people are less than 35 years old, for whom travel is an exciting proposition. With the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country growing by eight per cent per annum, disposable incomes have increased rapidly. Indian outbound travellers, once considered low spenders, are now recognised as high-yield visitors.

Pant said that the average Indian traveller spent USD 1,700 per trip, which amounts to a USD 15 billion Indian outbound market. She said that most of the money came from their own pockets and not from bank loans. Increased Internet access throughout India has facilitated strong growth in online bookings. While 60 million Indians had Internet access in 2007, that number is expected to more than double by 2010. There are also more than 70 million cell phone users in the country, with an additional five million being added every month.