For travellers, it’s adventure over luxury

The demand now is for experience-driven stays that are also light on the pocket

New Delhi: Sightseeing is passe, the Indian traveler is now looking for more meaningful and adventure-filled trips. More are traveling without an agenda or itinerary, posing a challenge to the hospitality industry that has thrived on travelers’ desire to live in privacy and comfort away from home The demand now is for experience driven stays that are also light on the pocket. ‘

Home-stays and hostels have stepped in to fill this gap. “The number of ‘ alternative accommodation options, like home-stays, experiential resorts, ‘ camps, serviced apartments and jungle lodges is growing Now, travelers are willing to compromise on accommodation,” said Hari Nari, CEO, HolidayIQ.

Hostels are increasingly preferred by College going students as they get to meet more people while spending less on stay On an average, a hostel charges nearly 40% less than a budget hotel “My friend and I went to Goa and wanted to, stay in a nice, clean place on a budget. We decided on a hostel because it fit our budget perfectly Plus, I knew of someone who had stayed there earlier that helped in making the decision. It ‘ was a fun experience because we interacted with many other travellers,” said Joyeeta Dutta (20), a political science student of Lady Shri Ram College.

Tour planners have been tweaking their offers accordingly and trying to convince customers to go for experience based travel “We get a lot of youngsters pointedly asking us to replace hotels with homestays

and hostels while planning tours. Our initial questionnaire is very detailed. and we do get an idea if the customer is open to some offbeat experiences. We talk to them extensively about alternative accommodation options, and their feedback is more often than not positive,” said Sindhu Shanmugam, owner of Signature Breaks, a personalized vacation planning company.

Hostels also try give first-timers enough social interaction and cultural immersion opportunities, “We include a range of activities every night, like barbeques and bonfires, to bring together residents and help them meet more people. This kind of an atmosphere cannot be created in a hotel,” said Uday Jhamb, co—founder of Roadhouse Hostels, a chain with accommodations in Goa,Varanasi and Jaipur.

For first-timers, it could be scary to stay in a dormitory full of strangers “We had the same apprehension as anybody else. But then we had a look at the hostel and found it clean and secure. Most importantly, we spoke to the owner of the hostel who managed to put us at ease,”Dutta said.

There could be a green reason to stay in hostels too—these have a lower carbon footprint as opposed to a hotel.

source: TOI