Goibibo reveals accommodation preferences of Indian Couples looking to book hotels for short duration
National, 10 February 2020: Goibibo, India’s leading online travel company, today announced findings from its survey on hotel booking behaviour and preferences of couples while choosing their accommodation. As the internet savvy millennials and Gen Z seek an end to invasive questions while booking their stay – the survey spotlights the need-gap that existed in the accommodation space for consenting adults and highlights their preferences while making their hotel booking.
The survey reveals that more than 72% respondents picked a couple-friendly hotel for shorter duration stay – be it for Daycations (brief duration day time stay) to overnight stay. The survey further reveals that more than 46% of the hotel bookings came from couples residing in the same city, whereas about 54% of bookings were made for hotels located at an outstation destination.
As per the survey, 50% respondents had booked couple-friendly hotels more than five times in the last one year. Also, what’s interesting to note is that about one-third of these bookings were made on the day of check-in. The findings validate the growing demand amongst young couples for worry-free access to safe space to spend time with their partners.
While bookings for couple friendly hotels in on the rise, some of the biggest yet, common concerns of bookers include constant judgement and prying behaviour of the hotel staff (39%) and sharing personal identify-proofs during check-ins (36%). Other aspects that couple friendly bookers are uncomfortable with include receiving promotional offers or mails from the hotels post the stay (27%) and inability to remove the booking from their travel records (25%).
Commenting on the emerging trend, Sunil Suresh, Chief Marketing Officer, Goibibo said, “This survey shows how hassle-free access to safe spaces and cost-effective comfort is what matters most to young couples looking to book hotels. At goibibo, we have been consistently pushing the envelope and have shaped our offerings as per evolving demands of millennials and generation Z — couple-friendly hotels on our platform is a step forward in that direction. The category is aggressively expanding and it’s encouraging to see the momentum it has picked in the past few years.”
The survey further shines light on some of the key parameters considered by couples while making reservations at a couple friendly hotel. A clear callout of being ‘couple-friendly’ in the description of the hotel is sought after; in fact more than 80% of the respondents shared their comfort in booking hotels that offer ‘No Questions Asked’ check-ins. Other decision-making factors include affordability of the room (61%), location of the hotel (55%), rating of the hotel (53%), privacy at the hotel (52%) and discounts offered (38%) among others. Additionally, two-third of the respondents indicated referring to user-generated content including feedback and reviews shared by other bookers. As the overall stay experience becomes critical for ‘short duration’ bookings, in-room experience is yet, another parameter increasing considered by couples. This includes room size (42%), bed size (24%), complimentary breakfast (21%) and bath-tub (14%) among others.
With 14th February around the corner, Goibibo has launched a new campaign #HappyValentinesNight that encourages couples to continue their Valentine’s Day celebrations through the night by picking a couple-friendly goibibo hotel in their neighbourhood. Through this campaign Goibibo is giving yet another option to celebrate the month of love through its couple-friendly offering that provide hassle-free, comfortable and safe stay to couples.
Methodology:
Goibibo’s Consumer Insights team commissioned a pan-India survey amongst couples in the age group of 22 years to 26 years. Conducted online, the survey received inputs from 1000 respondents.