Dr Anita Mehta, a professor who works at a city
college has to travel across the country frequently, and at times at a short
notice. She used to book her tickets through travel agents until she discovered
a mobile app that helped her book her tickets hasslefree and saved her a whole
lot of `commission' money. Anita is one of the several Amdavadis who have
turned to travel apps to plan their travels including booking tickets and
hotels.
According to the recent report published by
Cleartrip.com, Ahmedabad accounts for 47 per cent of the total customers
nationwide who book their tickets using a mobile app.The data also reveals that
the city ranks fourth in India in mobile booking after Lucknow, Jaipur and
Delhi.MakeMyTrip and Yatra.com have also seen a similar trend among Amdavadis
who rely on their cellphones to book tickets and reserve hotels.
An industry expert said, “Mobile apps are convenient
as they fit into your pocket and are accessible to you at all hours of the day.
You can book the ticket at a moment's notice and all available options are
visible on you cellphone screen. It gives you complete control over your travel
plans.“
According to MakeMyTrip, Ahmedabad is the leading
contributor to non-metro traffic on their mobile app, followed by Jaipur and
Chandigarh. Moreover, Yatra.com's app receives more than one fourth traffic
from footloose Amdavadis.
OFFLINE TOURISM IN LOSS
This new penchant for apps has come as a setback for
offline tour operators in the city. According to city-based tour operators, in
the past two years, the demand for offline booking has gone down by 20 per
cent. At the same time, mobile bookings have doubled among city travellers.
“Despite all the complaints that travelers have about
online bookings, they still prefer it. Mostly, because it is more convenient.
This is affecting our business,“ said Harshad Panchal of Dattu Tours and
Travels.
The maximum impact is seen in domestic flight
bookings where around 75 per cent of the travelers opt for online booking.
Meanwhile, many tour operators said that though
online booking has consumed a huge number their customers, the rising number of
tourists has compensated for their loss. “Customers go online only to check the
rates but come to us for ticket bookings. That is because offline tour
operators take responsibility in times of crises and even offer alternate
solutions unlike the online travel agents.We are here to help our customers and
they know they can rely on us more than the online operators,“ said Jigar
Gambha of Honest tours and travels. Reliable or not, offline tour operators are
definitely bearing the brunt of increasing popularity of travel apps. “Our
profit margins have remained stagnant since the beginning of online booking and
now the mobile apps. Had the online portals not flourished, it would have
increased our profit margin,“ said Rajil Sudharan of Shree Sati Online Pvt Ltd.
HOTEL BOOKING
According to city tour operators, people still prefer
to get hotel reservations through their agents.“In hotel bookings, there is
only a dip of 5 per cent as most customers are reluctant to depend on online
bookings,“ said Bhavesh Darji of Mystic Gujarat.
Many tour operators in the city claim that customers
are switching from online booking to offline travel agents due to the problems
they faced when booking tickets through internet. However, online operators
have a different take on it. According to them, not only ticket booking but the
use of mobile in search of hotels has also gone up drastically.
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