81% willing to splurge signals India’s shift to premium travel: Report

The Indian travel industry is experiencing a massive surge in consumer confidence and spending, with 88% of travellers keen to travel according to the Google-commissioned Kantar report, ‘Travel Rewired: Decoding The Indian Traveller.’ The report highlights a significant market shift toward premiumization and value maximisation, along with a strong reliance on digital touchpoints across the traveller journey, from inspiration to booking.

Commenting on the evolving traveller journey, Shaurab Kapadia, Head of Travel & FoodTech, Google India, said, “Travelling is now a form of self-expression, yet the path to booking is often fragmented. We are seeing our digital ecosystem simplify this complexity. YouTube is the inspiration hub, Search is the essential touchpoint for planning with AI emerging as the critical enabler for travelers. At the same time, we are enabling brands with our AI-powered ads suite and the YouTube creator ecosystem to optimize for micro-moments, ensuring personalised messaging that converts peak interest into a booking.”

Key findings from the report

Shift from cost consciousness to value maximisation: The definitive trend is toward higher spending and comfort. Domestically, 72% of travellers cite cost as less of a consideration, and 81% expect to splurge. This premiumization is even more pronounced for global trips, where the average spend is 3.2X that of a domestic trip.

Video powers discovery, and creators fuel inspiration: Video has become central to discovery, with YouTube as the top source for travel inspiration, used by a massive 68% of Indian travellers. YouTube is fueling aspirational travel and deep engagement across formats: Creators are highly influential, trusted by 59% of travellers who rely on them during trip planning, while Shorts are used for inspiration by 2 in 5 travellers.

On leveraging YouTube’s multi-format ecosystem, Pallavi Chopra, Chief Marketing Officer, redBus, said, “Our continued success with long-form video ads on YouTube for awareness and consideration led us to test the full potential of its multi-format capabilities. We strategically incorporated YouTube Shorts ads during the last holiday season, treating them as more than just a reach platform. This combination proved powerful for brand consideration: Shorts delivered a 2X lift in branded search and achieved a 7% lower customer acquisition cost. This synergy of long-form and Shorts is now essential for driving an efficient, always-on, full-funnel strategy from awareness through conversion. ”

Digital touchpoints driving final bookings: Travellers are highly digital, with 85% preferring to book online, and brand trust is the top factor in accommodation and airline choices. During the research phase, both Search and YouTube are used to gather crucial information about accommodations (reviews, location, videos on accommodations) and airlines (reputation, reliability, and in-flight experience). Google Search serves a critical role, guiding travellers with essential details on key activities (51%) and accommodation (46%).

“Search has always been a key channel for us to drive bookings, and we wanted to up our game during the holiday season. Combining the efficiency of our Search campaigns with the expansive reach of Google’s AI-powered Performance Max unlocked a powerful synergy. This strategy drove a 50% increase in return on ad spend and a 25% better cost per acquisition, while successfully tapping into previously untapped demand for incremental bookings. Performance Max is now an integral component of our core media strategy at PRISM, proving its unique value as a key driver of efficient growth and market share expansion,” said Shashank Jain, Head of Technology and Marketing, PRISM.

Decoding the Traveller Archetypes: The report identifies four distinct archetypes of Indian travellers based on their unique aspirations and digital journeys.

●    Memory Makers: These travellers pursue niche ‘moment-cations’ (gig-tripping, sports, set-jetting), using an average of 10 inspiration touchpoints.  Their planning is decisively guided by the creator ecosystem: 71% cite YouTube as their top source for inspiration, and 89% use it for travel information from creators.
●    Globe Trotters: This high-value segment shows a clear preference for luxury and convenience. Their careful investment is preceded by meticulous research: 56% spend more than a week planning their trips. Their primary guide remains digital, with 88% using YouTube for travel information from creators.
●    Novice Travellers: Predominantly representing the younger travellers entering the category, 67% of this segment are first-time travellers, planners, or payers. They are highly cost-conscious and quick to finalise their trips, with 88% using YouTube to look for creator-led travel information.
●    Religious Pilgrims: These are a budget-conscious segment, and the complexity of their search behaviour is unique, as they conduct research in a more diverse range of languages (Hindi, Tamil, Marathi) than the average. 92% use YouTube for creator-led travel information, relying on it for research on key activities and destination visuals.

To capture this high-intent market, brands must optimise the full funnel at every inspiration touchpoint. This requires utilising authentic creator voices and AI-powered solutions to scale hyper-localisation and personalised messaging, ensuring every unique aspiration is met.

The study was conducted by Kantar across Metros, Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities in India with a sample size of 1000 respondents (age 18-45+), balancing primary decision makers and influencers.