iXiGO.com survey reveals online travel buying behavior in India

New Delhi, India-- (SBWire) -- 02/18/2010 -- iXiGO.com, India’s leading travel search engine, has revealed the results of its recent online travel survey, providing unique insights into online travel consumer behavior in India.

The survey was conducted by INSEAD MBAs on behalf of iXiGO.com from August 2009 to February 2010, with responses from over 2,500 Indian online travelers from across a diverse representative sample of Internet users searching or booking travel online. The online travel buying audience unraveled by the survey is that of an affluent, young, well-educated, professional internet users, with almost half the respondents reporting an annual income above INR 5 lakhs per month, 90% of the respondents being graduates, and over 55% being professional degree holders (Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, MBAs).

The results reveal that Indian Internet users have developed a clear preference for booking flights online and have matured into deal-hunters and comparison shoppers, with almost 65% of respondents checking 3 or more travel sites, before making a booking, and 18% of respondents checking 5 or more travel sites before completing a transaction. The Indian traveler's love for promotions, discounts, deals etc. also came out prominently in the survey, with "Price" and "Good Deals" rated most often as the most important parameters in choosing a website for booking flights, followed by "Comprehensiveness / Choice" and "Simplicity". In addition, Indian travelers have no clear preference for either airline sites or online travel agency (OTA) sites for completing their transactions, with over 61% of respondents booking "where the best deals are", 23% preferring to book on airline official sites and 16% sticking to booking on OTA sites.

When it comes to hotel bookings, the buying behavior revealed is that of a maturing online market, with offline channels still competing with online channels for being the most preferred means for booking hotels. The survey finds that there is a marked tendency of travelers needing to speak to someone, checking multiple hotel booking sites and cross-checking offline rates of the hotel directly with the hotel desk or a travel agent, before deciding to book their hotels. However, online travel sites are being used increasingly as a research, comparison and information-gathering tool, and almost 35% of the respondents now book their hotels online. When booking hotels online, "Price", "Hotel Location" and "Hotel Brand" have emerged as the three most important parameters that help travelers decide which hotel they choose to book.

Dharmendra Yashovardhan, Chief Operating Officer, iXiGO.com summed up the findings - "Our survey pinpoints to a strong need for deal-comparison platforms that allow travelers to compare travel deals across multiple online travel sites, in order to satiate the Indian online traveler's hunger for deal-hunting and comparison shopping. When it comes to hotels, a more comprehensive aggregation of online and offline hotel deals, location-based hotel mapping and the confidence of getting the best prices online, have emerged as the strongest needs of the hour."

iXiGO.com, India’s fastest growing travel site and South Asia's biggest travel search engine, allows business & leisure travelers a quick search & comparison of prices across multiple airline websites, hotel and bus service providers as well as online travel portals, allowing them to save time and money every time they travel by ensuring a more comprehensive & deeper search of available travel options.

Survey Methodology:
The survey was carried out by INSEAD business school graduates on behalf of iXiGO.com. The survey used online mediums, including the iXiGO.com website, iXiGO.com registered user-base and social media networks including LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter, with over 2,500 responses from India. Results were weighted to be representative of the Indian adult online population on the basis of sex, age, education and income. The online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For more detailed survey methodology and full survey results please send a request to survey@ixigo.com .

About iXiGO.com
iXiGO.com is South Asia’s leading online & mobile travel search engine based out of Gurgaon, India. iXiGO.com searches across multiple airlines, hotels, trains, bus booking sites & online travel portals to find the best travel deals. Launched in June 2007 by IIT, INSEAD and Amadeus alumni Aloke Bajpai, Rajnish Kumar and Dharmendra Yashovardhan, iXiGO.com has been recognized by NASSCOM as India’s Top-100 Innovator. BusinessToday and Wall Street Journal/Mint have named it among India’s 10 hottest startups in 2008.

iXiGO.com is backed by BAF Spectrum, a Singapore-based seed-investment fund. For more information about iXiGO.com, visit http://www.ixigo.com or m.ixigo.com (mobile). Keep up with iXiGO.com updates on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ixigocom and on Twitter @ixigorocks .

Media Contact:
Dharmendra Yashovardhan
iXiGO.com
Email: dharmendra@ixigo.com
Telephone: +91 124 4045281