Booking.com reintroduces its ‘Connected Trip’ vision in India with a cooking experience featuring Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal in Mumbai. The ‘Connected Trip’ feature enables travelers to book every aspect of their journey through a single website or mobile app.
Santosh Kumar, Country Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia at Booking.com, speaks exclusively to Travel Trends Today (T3), sharing key insights.
India as a market for Booking.com
T3 sought to understand India’s position within Booking.com’s broader strategy. Kumar explained that the Indian travel industry is thriving with optimism, as Indians are more eager than ever to travel for both work and leisure. Driving the growth is a young and growing middle-class population, increasing disposable incomes, and shifting preferences among Indian travelers to venture to new destinations and seek deeper connections on their journeys.
“In fact, India is expected to become the fourth-largest global spender on travel by 2030, with travel expenditures by Indians on both domestic and international trips projected to grow from USD 150 billion in 2019 to USD 410 billion by 2030,” said Kumar. “Additionally, more Indians are looking to travel internationally, especially with eased visa norms, affordable accommodation options, and increased flight connectivity.”
The problem statement behind ‘Connected Trip’
Kumar noted that while the travel landscape has evolved, but significant challenges persist, especially in the trip-planning process. A recent Booking.com survey reveals that nearly half (42%) of Indians find trip planning stressful, including juggling flights, accommodations, car rentals, activities, and the overall logistics across multiple platforms. This fragmented approach reduces convenience, ease, and flexibility.
“In fact, the travel experience worsens when something goes wrong or plans change. One problem impacts the rest of the trip, with travelers often having to deal with these issues on their own,” shared Kumar. “The ‘Connected Trip’ vision empowers Indian travelers to seamlessly plan and book all key aspects of their journey in one place, eliminating the need to navigate multiple websites and apps. Additionally, options for car rentals, private airport transfers, and a vast selection of exciting local activities are all readily available in one place, creating a frictionless travel experience.”
When asked about the expectations & response to this feature, Kumar added that they are excited to see real progress with the ‘Connected Trip’ vision. “According to our Booking Holdings Q2 2024 earnings, our connected transactions increased by 45% y-o-y and continue to represent a high single-digit percentage of Booking.com’s total transactions”, noted Kumar.
He further added that experiences are an important part of a trip, with almost half of Indian travelers (48%) wanting to experience a new or different lifestyle and culture. For Indian travelers traveling domestically, the top 5 most searched destinations for flights include Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, and Hyderabad. Similarly, when it comes to international travel, Dubai, London, Bangkok, Toronto, and Bali are among the top-searched international destinations for flights by Indians from January 2024 till date.
Role of tech & AI for Booking.com
Regarding technology, Kumar shared that Booking.com leverages smart, data-powered predictive technologies, like machine learning and AI, to enhance the traveler experience further. With the AI Trip Planner, currently available for travelers in the USA, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, Booking.com plans to take the trip planning experience a step further by providing a visual list of destinations and properties. The planner uses existing machine learning and large language models (LLM) from OpenAI’s ChatGPT API to provide personalized travel suggestions and support every stage of the trip planning process.
“This represents the next phase of an already exciting journey for us, to learn and understand how to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. According to our Travel Trends 2024 data, 70% of Indian travelers trust AI for trip planning. In fact, 76% of Indian travelers want insights and tips from AI to enhance their experiences with suggested deals and offers,” added Kumar. “We know that people will continue to seek out ways to experience the world, and it will be more important than ever before for brands to leverage technology to create a seamless, frictionless experience, perfectly tailored to each and every customer.”
