Maharashtra's luxury tourists love it Down Under

MUMBAI: Going on pre-packaged tours with strangers may still be popular with Indians travelling to Europe and the United States, but it seems those touring Australia prefer the company of family and friends. This is the affluent Indian, whose holiday budget starts at Rs10 lakh, who carries along an entourage of domestic helps, cooks, nannies, personal assistants and drivers, to stay cocooned in domestic comfort when on a holiday. Since 2012, among Indian states, Maharashtra has been the largest contributor of such well-heeled tourists to Australia.

These were some of the findings the Australian government's tourism body came up with after research into travel behaviour and Indian consumers' preferences. It's the kind of Indian traveller who cannot be bothered with the fickle-minded dollar. "The luxury travel segment has grown significantly in the last year and continues to do so despite the declining rupee,'' said the December 2012-March 2013 survey with a sample size of 2,054 participants from six metros, who fall in the afflue-nt category.

"These travellers are often accompanied by domestic staff as luxury travellers do not want to compromise on service levels they are used to at home,'' said the survey. Not surprisingly, the study said the average middle-class Indian makes two overseas trips a year, one long haul and one short haul.

Delhi has always been at the forefront and in 2011 it sent most leisure tourists to Australia. Maharashtra beat it with a growth rate of 46% and close to 18,000 tourists in 2012. Among metros, Mumbai had the most tourists (41%) who preferred to travel with family and friends on tour packages customized to their needs. While on the other hand, tourists from Chennai (74%) were fine with pre-packaged tours as long as their travel group included only family and friends. Unlike Mumbaikars and most Delhiites, they do not bother about customizing tour packages. Delhi had an almost equal number of tourists opting for custom-made packages and those opting for pre-packaged tours with family and friends.

Indians have also continued their reliance on travel agents. "For long haul destinations, bookings are predominantly made with a trusted travel agent,'' said the Tourism Australia survey. But for short haul and familiar destinations, Indians prefer online bookings, particularly for airfares and accommodation. "Even if travel agents are used, most consumers do independent research to verify what the agent tells them,'' it added. With Air India scheduled to start direct India-Australia flights later this month, the number of Indian tourists flying Down Under is likely to grow in the coming weeks.