NRIs travel to India to remain connected to their roots

Karan Johar is a master film maker and his astute understanding of the Indian ‘desi’ made his films blockbusters both India and in markets where Indian diaspora resides in large numbers. Taking a cue from DDLJ, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, we studied Non-Resident Indians in United States of America to get an insight into what brings them to India, how do they travel and what do they do when they whilst they are here.

The poll was undertaken across major cities of USA with a large population of US Indians on both the East and the West coast, a total of 400 respondents were polled. Interviews were conducted over telephone (CATI). These are just top level insights and a deep dive is only available to our travel and hospitality clients for their science based reputation management campaigns.

Here are some interesting insights.

Travelling to India is a habit for first generation migrants (FirstGen). i.e. those who were born in India and migrated to the USA. For them travel to India is all about ‘loving your family’. The NRI family travels together and 90% come to India predominantly to bond with their larger family. For more than 60%, the excitement of meeting their relatives and attending family events like marriages brings them back. The state of their personal finances does not seem to come in their way of these visits, as almost 2 out of 3 travelers would travel to India regardless of their financial situation.

2/3rd of the travelers like to fly directly to India and do not break their journey. However, from here on the behavior of the FirstGen migrants to the NextGen (FirstGen kids) starts to be different. While 90% of FirstGen are likely to stay with family and friends, almost half of the NextGen travelers are likely to opt for hotels, interestingly only one out of five FirstGenrers would possibly opt for a hotel accommodation.

So, how do they spend time in India?

NextGen are explorers and most likely to go on to be a tourist. More 25% NextGeners would go for a ‘holiday’ after arriving in India. NextGen connects with heritage: visit tourist attractions (60%), national landmarks (48%). Relax at spas (30%) or by playing golf (14%). About one in two NextGeners would attend live entertainment whilst the 2 out of3 FirstGeners would seek a fine dining experience. Some interesting regional insights that we gained on the nature of the holiday!

About a third of the Northeast residents participate in outdoor recreation About one in two south Indian families are most likely to participate in children’s activities

So why is this relevant to reputation management?

The insights generated provide us powerful cues to our clients to not only custom create offers (what to do?) but also help differentiate themselves by creating persuasive conversations (what to say?) And most importantly helps identify the ‘persuadables’ needed to win in the market place (who to target?).

That’s the power of science based reputation management.