The growing economic might of the youth segment, which has left its imprint on the auto, mobile communication and textile sectors, seems to have the tourism business too under it spell!
With a view to capitalise on this lucrative business opportunity, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd (TCIL) has chalked out a package aimed at 'rocking' this group by launching a youth-centric product 'Rock-On-Holidays'.
Travel in the country, which used to be the forte of people in the 35-60 years age group, has changed, a study by it has found. The study showed that nearly 45 per cent of its 'individual holiday travellers' were youth and the market is "poised to grow at an exponential rate of 25-30 per cent".
Its market analysis also brought to light an interesting trend: the young, upwardly mobile population is not just interested in travelling from one place to another; it would rather make a 'voyage of discovery', scouting for new places and is on the look out for exciting 'non-traditional experiences'.
In a communication to the stock exchanges, TCIL has detailed its plans to launch 'Rock-on-Holidays'. The tour packages would have plenty of adventure thrown in -- bike tours and pub crawls in Spain, scuba diving at Ko Samet, elephant trekking and rafting in Bali, mountain biking, para-gliding and alpine trekking in Switzerland and much more. The starting price of the packages is Rs 35,000.
The company said the product would also offer activities such as I-fly, fissure snorkelling, ice-climbing, kayaking with a range of unconventional options such as horseback, Segway and even the thrill of a Ferrari ride. Its study also revealed that for the Indian youth 'partying is a priority'. It has therefore included places such as Miami, Las Vegas, Orlando in the US and Ibiza in Spain in its itineraries.
TCIL says all the packages are priced attractively to ensure value-for-money and accommodation would consist of a mix of basic hotels and youth hostels.
Madhav Pai, Director-Leisure Travel (Outbound), TCIL, was confident that the Rock-On-Holidays would address a 'latent need of this powerful youth market' and create a new breed of customers for the brand.