MAM
Booking.com Holiday Home Outlook Report reveals what makes a holiday home ‘bookable’ to Indian travellers
Mumbai: Booking.com, a global leader in connecting travellers with the widest choice of incredible places to stay, has released its inaugural Holiday Homes Outlook Report uncovering what holiday seekers are looking for when booking a home rental and how holiday homeowners can better attract guests and enhance their experience. The Booking.com Holiday Home Outlook Report* surveying 11,000 homeowners and holiday seekers, reveals the evolving trends in the short-term rental sector from seven countries across Asia-Pacific including India, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan and China.
Holiday homes and its association with online travel brands
For a market that is price sensitive, the guarantee of the safety of financial transactions instil confidence in holiday homeowners. It also establishes a positive foundation with customers who wish to seek a seamless and secure experience. According to the report, 97 per cent of Indian holiday homeowners stated they have/ would use an online travel platform to manage their holiday rental. The top reasons they have decided or would prefer to use an online travel platform to manage their bookings is that it provides a secure payment platform (41 per cent), it provides a platform for customer and visitor reviews (39 per cent), it provides increased visibility of their home (38 per cent), it provides more reliability in confirming guest bookings (37 per cent), and it allows for secure communication with guests (36 per cent).
Nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of Indian holiday homeowners said that listing their property on multiple platforms would generate more bookings, yet only 22 per cent say they use at least one online travel agency to help manage their properties.
Challenges experienced by holiday homeowners
The number 1 challenge Indian holiday homeowners experience when listing their holiday home as a short-term rental is maintaining demand during off-peak seasons (37 per cent) followed by transforming their own private investment property or holiday home into a short-term rental to make it available for guests to stay in (35 per cent), finding and attracting guests (34 per cent) and marketing their property/properties (33 per cent).
Most preferred holiday homes in India
When it comes to the kind of holiday homes that appeal to Indian travellers, beach houses are the most popular accommodation type (46 per cent) followed by farm stays (41 per cent), city apartments (40 per cent) and country cottages (36 per cent). Additionally, holiday seekers are also looking for more unique travel experiences off the beaten path, such as houseboats, camps/ glamping/ tents, cosy cabins and chalets. Travellers in the South find a farm stay (46 per cent) or a houseboat (38 per cent) most appealing as compared to those in North, East & Central India who prefer a cosy cabin for their stay.
What makes a holiday home uniquely Indian
40 per cent of Indians said that a home with a kitchenette or serving meals was the #1 factor in what makes a holiday home uniquely Indian. The top 5 factors Indians ranked:
1 Kitchenette or serving meals (40 per cent)
2 Has a mountain valley view/ greenery (30 per cent)
3 Has a pool/ BBQ/ recreational area (12 per cent)
4 Has beach access (11 per cent)
5 Pet friendly (7 per cent)
Shared value for the little things
Responding to the changing needs of holiday seekers, homeowners have a close alignment between what they value and believe are key decision factors when booking a home. The top 3 most important factors holiday homeowners and travellers say contribute to securing more bookings or making a booking decision are:
Booking.com country manager, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia Santosh Kumar said “In recent years, Indian travellers have been increasingly looking for properties that offer an alternative to the traditional hotel experience. The Booking.com Holiday Homes Outlook Report helps understand and respond to this sector’s evolving needs both from a homeowner and holiday seeker’s point of view. Our overarching aim is to provide customers with the widest choice and diversity of great stay all in one place. With over 28 million total reported listings on Booking.com, more than 7 million properties are in the alternative accommodation space. In India, we offer homes, apartments, farm stays, cottages and other unique places to stay as identified in this report. Our top priority is to assist Indian holiday homeowners in attracting more bookings by simplifying the process and providing confidence when listing their properties, whilst offering travellers the opportunity to easily explore and book their perfect homestays.”
For the full Booking.com Holiday Home Outlook Report please visit the link here.
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
