India and the wider South Asia region is an extremely important market for Collinson with the company operating in India for close to 20 years. With the growing Indian economy, the return of travel and the heightened focus that Indian consumers place on travel experiences, brands are presented with new opportunities to engage and build loyalty with their most valued customers.
Collinson collaborates with the world’s most ambitious travel and financial services brands as their trusted, strategic partner of choice, helping clients to better acquire, engage and retain their customers through strategic customer engagement and travel loyalty benefit solutions that are both customer and data-driven.
Across the Asia Pacific in 2024, Collinson saw a 17 per cent increase in lounge visits versus pre-pandemic and a year-on-year (2023 vs 2022) increase of 157 per cent. In India in 2023, lounge visits increased by almost close to four-times compared to 2019.
The increase in lounge visits is not only fuelled by expanded inventory India’s fast-growing economy and increased demand in both business and leisure travel but is further influenced by how consumers in India, particularly with the younger generations (i.e., Gen Zs) are also placing a heightened value on experiences.
In a recent interaction with ETTravelWorld, Sumit Prakash, Country Director, India and South Asia, Collinson shared his views on the return of a large number of travellers in India and the growing influence of India’s travellers on the global travel industry.
“Travel has returned at pace in India, and the growth of the sector will bring about substantial opportunities for the global travel industry. As travel recovery across Asia Pacific picks up momentum, India is one of the key markets that is driving this growth, particularly with the increase in travel from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in the country,” he said.
Sustained demand from Indian middle-class population
According to CAPA’s report, international outbound departures from India is projected to rise from 17.4 million in 2019 to over 50 million by 2030. The number of aggregate trips made by Indian travellers is expected to increase from 2.3 billion in 2019 to 5 billion in 2030 while spending on travel and tourism is predicted to hit USD 410 billion by then – a surge of more than 170 per cent from USD 150 billion in 2019.
A significant reason for the surge in outbound travel is the resilient and sustained demand from the Indian middle-class population, which is expected to grow to around 1 billion by the middle of this century. Not only are Indian travellers discovering new locations to travel to, but they also have greater spending power and, in turn, are more willing to spend on enhancing their travel experiences.
This presents significant opportunities for the global travel industry and those in the wider travel ecosystem, such as payment providers – many countries are starting to offer visa-free travel to further encourage Indian outbound travel and travel-related spending. India is also expected to be a key force in driving tourism revenues especially for many Southeast Asian countries.
Talking about how Collinson addressed the evolving preferences of travellers in India, considering the growing interest in airport experiences beyond lounges, Prakash said Collinson launched ‘Priority Pass Access India’ (PPAI), a dedicated domestic airport experience programme in 2022. “Since then, we have grown our network of airport experiences and today, travellers can access over 60 airport lounges and travel experiences across cities in India,” he added.
In a recent interview with ETTravelWorld, Laura Houldsworth, Managing Director of Asia Pacific at Booking.com discussed the company’s strategy for growth, including supporting and capitalising on India’s rapid growth, and highlighted trends in the industry such as immersive cultural experiences, alternative accommodation, and sustainability. She also shed light on Booking.com’s growth strategies in India and the broader Asia Pacific region.
Collinson’s strategic collaborations with PineLabs and Poshvine in India are instrumental in enhancing the travel experience that the company provide to its members. Furthermore, the collaboration with Poshvine, an India-based loyalty platform, has augmented the travel experience for its members.
“We are continuing to work with our partners to bring new and seamless experiences for our clients to reward their customers (and travellers alike) with memorable experiences in frequently visited destinations, both within India and globally,” said Prakash talking about partnerships.
Appetite towards experiential offerings
Collinson’s recent APAC consumer insights report revealed that 86 per cent of consumers in India perceive the experiences that brands and companies provide to be as important as their products and services. Their appetite towards experiential offerings is increasingly significant; for instance, consumers in India rate airport lounge access as one of the most appealing travel-related rewards, and this in turn has a positive effect on Indian travellers’ emotional connection to the brand providing access – travellers shared that it makes them feel valued (59 per cent) and rewarded (57 per cent).
Sharing his thoughts on the trend, Prakash mentioned, “Consumers in India – particularly millennials – have ranked access to airport lounges as the top travel-related reward and benefit they value highly. Indian travellers also cited access to airport transit hotels, gaming lounges, airport parking and duty-free discounts as some of their most preferred airport experiences.”
Sharing details on how Collinson plans to expand its offerings, Prakash said that their approach to customer engagement and loyalty programmes has always been to tailor its solutions to ensure they are relevant and meet the needs of our clients.
“On top of providing access to a growing network of premium airport lounges across the globe, we are also constantly expanding the variety of travel experiences in our portfolio (such as sleeping pods, gaming lounges, and spa services) which also contributes significantly to travellers’ ability to unwind throughout their journey,” he added.
Expansion of airport lounges & travel experiences
As travel continues to recover, one major trend Collinson see is that consumers in India are placing a heightened value on experiences. To better meet the evolving needs of consumers, Collinson has expanded its network of airport lounges and travel experiences in Asia Pacific by 40 per cent in 2023.
Prakash informed that Priority Pass Members have access to more than 550 airport lounges and travel experiences across key locations in the region, and over 1,500 across the globe. In India, PPAI grants members access to more than 60 airport lounges and travel experiences.
Members have access to an ever-growing range of premium experiences – from spas to sleeping pods to dining – that help elevate every journey into something special. For instance, new experiences that were added to the Asia Pacific inventory last year include access to a co-working space – Miracle Co-working space – in Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport, as well as a wide range of dining choices with 16 new dining establishments, brought on board in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China, and Japan.
More Indians are planning on travelling alone this year (84 per cent) compared to their global counterparts (66 per cent). Further, nearly two-thirds of Indian travellers (59 per cent) say they plan on travelling for more than one solo adventure. Khanna said they are choosing to travel alone as a special treat, to reconnect with themselves, and to take a break from the chaos of daily life.
As Collinson expands its network of airport lounges and travel experiences, Prakash, during the conversation, also highlighted key priorities and objectives for the company in India in the coming years.
“Our key priority in the region remains to provide valuable customer engagement solutions to help businesses better engage and build stronger relationships with their most valued customers. This includes working together to build more sophisticated, personalised customer engagement propositions, and to become a strategic, trusted partner of choice in India,” he said.
Another area of focus is to continue enhancing the travel experiences of Indian travellers. “This includes prioritising research and insights to better understand their evolving preferences and collaborating with our network of partners to offer more personalised and relevant experiences, rewards, and benefits.”
