'Indians to spend 50 pc more on travel abroad'

New Delhi, Aug 29: Willing to go places, literally, and having the required money in their pockets, Indians are going to spend on their travel abroad as never before.

In the next 12 months, on an average, they will spend between 26 per cent to 50 per cent more than they had in the past, according to the MasterIndex of Consumer Lifestyles Survey, which involved 3,249 people in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Fifty per cent of those surveyed said they would spend more on personal travel.

When it came to the destinations where they would like to go, Indian travellers preferred Singapore with 28 per cent of them voting for it, closely followed by the United States with 21 per cent votes.

Interestingly, the US topped the list with 27 per cent respondants favouring it as the top destination in the last survey. The United Arab Emirates (19 per cent) and the United Kingdom (15 per cent) were the other destinations voted in the survey.

When on vacations, shopping (46 per cent) topped the list of favourite pastimes for the travellers, compared to entertainment (44 per cent), sightseeing (39 per cent), visiting family or friends (25 per cent) and relaxation (21 per cent).

The survey, by MasterCard Worldwide for the first half of 2006, also showed the increasing preference of travellers for credit cards and debit cards for shopping as the respective figures have increased to 45 per cent and 50 per cent as against last year's figures of 42 per cent and 27 per cent.

About 80 per cent of the credit card owners who planned to travel attributed this to their belief that credit cards are much more secure than cash (76 per cent), followed by reasons of acceptance (48 per cent) and convenience in use (41 per cent).

Interestingly, the survey stated the people's preference for internet shopping over the traditional method of commerce.

''The results of the MasterIndex survey show that 35 per cent of the respondents who use the internet now opt to make online purchases, a significant increase over the figures (14 per cent) in the last survey. The consumer in India is rapidly embracing online transactions, e-commerce, and the concept of a cashless economy. All these are precursors of a maturing Indian consumer,'' MasterCard Worldwide South-Asia Country General Manager Nitin Gupta said.

Security and safety (47 per cent) were rated highest by people when asked about issues that conerns them while travelling. Not being able to get the right kind of food and clean water, and language barriers rated as the second biggest concerns (33 per cent each) while running out of cash (25 per cent), immigration and customs problems (24 per cent), followed by falling sick (22 per cent) were other traveller fears.

The MasterIndex of Consumer Lifestyles survey is part of the bi-annual MasterIndex of Consumer Confidence, a survey commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide across South Asia, West Asia and Africa.

The Consumer Lifestyles survey seeks to understand perceptions, choices and concerns that people have with regard to a number of lifestyle choices.

UNI