Women are emerging as key consumers of ‘value & budget’ hotels across India

Chennai, India, March 26, 2014: Stayzilla.com, India’s leading online hotel reservation portal in the ‘value & budget’ segment, today unveiled some interesting findings of a market study on ‘travel patterns of women focused on the value & budget segment’.

The study is based on data collected from 80,000 users (male & female), making online bookings in the ‘value and budget’ segment from Stayzilla.com’s enormous network of 8000+ hotels across 1000 towns and cities in India. The study has been conducted across the 8 cities of Chennai, Bangalore, NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. This study is an analysis of bookings made from February 2013 to February 2014. The analysis covers 3 target segments – women travelling alone, women travelling in groups (of women), and women making booking decisions for their families/peers.

“Value and budget category” for the purposes of this study can be defined as room charges ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 3500 per night.

Key findings of the study:

• Stayzilla.com has found that 13% of its travellers in the ‘value and budget’ segment are women, this number has doubled over the last one year.
• Additionally, amongst the women travel segment, Stayzilla has found an increased propensity for repeat travel. Almost 40% of the women traveller booking volume are repeat customers.

Destination of travel

• Women prefer ‘value and budget’ hotel options while travelling to tier 1 cities which include Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
• The top three cities that are popular destinations among women travellers, in the ‘value and budget’ segment, are – Chennai, Bangalore & Hyderabad.
• From the women travel booking volume in the ‘value and budget’ segment, 80% of online hotel bookings made by women are for tier 1 cities and 20% are for tier 2 cities.
• Travelling to multiple locations with shorter stays seems to be the trend, with women making multiple room bookings across cities.  On an average women travel to an average of two cities on each trip.

Purpose of travel

• Leisure travel tops the list contributing to 60% of overall online bookings in the ‘value and budget’ segment. This is followed by Business travel (25%) and Religious trips (15%).
• 70% of women travelling on leisure generally travel in groups and 30% travel solo.

What women want?

• Security and furnishings are top criteria for women making hotel bookings in this category. Women prefer to book hotels that are centrally located indicating their concern for security.
• Additionally, they are also keen on key facilities/offerings such as kitchenette, laundry, breakfast, etc.

Other interesting insights:

•  Concept of budget sisterhood travel has come of age in India. Women using hotels in the ‘value and budget’ segment travel in groups of an average size of four people.
• Women are giving rise to the trend of ‘Staycations’ – travelling to destinations within a 200-km radius of one’s home for a short getaway. 70% of staycations that women take are with families.
• The average age of women using ‘value and budget’ accommodation has fallen from 40 years to 25 years over the last one year. This is essentially a function of purpose of travel. This is also a reflection of changing societal trends when it comes to women travellers.

CEO & Founder of Stayzilla.com Yogendra Vasupal said, “For the last eight years, Stayzilla.com has had a dedicated focus on the ‘value & budget’ segment. We are delighted to note this increasing acceptance of this category and the growing consumption of our services among women travellers. We are confident that these trends will only get stronger over the next few years, and are gearing up to provide more customized offerings for this target market.”