On a flight to London if you have ever wished to find David Beckham, Emma Watson or Daniel Craig as your travelling companion, then you are not alone.
A recent British Airways “Travel Habit Survey” for travellers from India conducted in February and March 2016 revealed that English footballer, David Beckham, is the first choice of British celebrity for a flying companion for 32 per cent of the travellers polled. Harry Potter star, Emma Watson, comes a close second at 29 per cent and James Bond, Daniel Craig is the third choice at 24 per cent.
The online survey that asked over 500 Indian participants about their travel habits revealed Paris as the top dream destination in Europe with 24 per cent voting for it, followed by London with 20 per cent votes.
Interestingly, nearly half (48 per cent) of the Indian participants were inspired to visit the UK following popular British movie James Bond, 42 per cent and 34 per cent of the respondents said they find their travel inspiration from Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes respectively.
Compared with the other countries from Asia Pacific, Indians are the most family focused. Sixty-four percent of Indians feel that the availability of family fun activities is the most important factor when choosing a holiday destination, followed by historical landmarks and great shopping choices.
As far as shopping at the airport is concerned, most Indians (27 per cent) said they liked to buy food and drink items when they are travelling. For women, designer clothes (9 per cent) and jewellery (10 per cent) are next while for men it is perfumes and colognes, with 15 per cent purchasing them from airport stores.
Results from the survey also showed that over half of the participants give high priority to the availability of restaurants and cafes when picking a new destination to visit; 41 per cent picked Oxford Street as the top shopping destination in London and 30 per cent of respondents look for designer outlet malls for discounted luxury goods.
