Mumbai: The year 2020 halted travel plans for most of us, as the travel industry came to a standstill amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a year of learning for many, as it reminded us to cherish the things we love, including travel. As a testament to this, 63% of Indian travellers indicated that they will not take travel for granted in the future, as per recent Booking.com research.
To communicate the value of travel in 2021 and strengthen commitment for travel, Booking.com, the leading digital travel platform, recently launched its #FutureOfTravel influencer campaign in India. As part of the campaign, Booking.com collaborated with Rohit Saraf – the current OTT-heartthrob, television star Sanaya Irani, and travel influencers Shramona Poddar and Ankita Kumar to share their 2021 travel goals. They took to Instagram to share how they would travel differently in 2021, from setting off on shorter spontaneous road trips to travelling solo, discovering hidden gems in our own country by travelling local, to travelling more sustainably and supporting local communities.
The campaign reached out to over 5.6 million people on Instagram, encouraging them to have a travel goal for 2021. The user-generated content (UGC) led campaign invited followers of the influencers to share their 2021 travel goals on Instagram via a contest, where the leading travel portal is incentivising travellers with Booking.com gift card that can be used by winners to realise their travel goals in 2021 when it is safe to do so.
The campaign received an overwhelming response from consumers, who demonstrated their travel enthusiasm by participating in the contest, sharing posts of how they will travel differently in 2021. From committing to a sustainable travel approach to prioritising domestic travel and from exploring lesser-known, closer to home destinations to helping the local communities – travellers across India are sharing their travel desires and aspirations.
Commenting on the success of the campaign, Ritu Mehrotra, Regional Manager, South Asia at Booking.com said, “Travel is an integral part of our lives, and holds different meanings for different travellers – be it experiencing cultures, food or be in the company of nature and at peace with oneself at a picturesque destination. While 2020 was a breakthrough year for travel, it gave everyone the time and opportunity to introspect their priorities. We believe that the #FutureOfTravel campaign has given travellers an opportunity to re-prioritize their travel goals as learning from the pandemic. It is great to see travellers wanting to make a substantial difference going forward and talking about their travel goals in 2021 through our campaign, and Booking.com continues to remain committed to make it easier for everyone to experience the world, as it is safe to do so again.”
So what would the journeys of 2021 be like? The ones that will inspire, the ones that will rediscover India, the ones that will make a difference!
