SiteMinder has revealed that Indian travellers are emerging as the most influential change-driving force in the global hotel industry in its SiteMinder’s Changing Traveller Report 2025, the largest survey globally on accommodation.

The report, based on a survey of over 12,000 respondents across 14 key tourism markets, including India, underscores how Indian travellers, through their online and on-site preferences, are reshaping expectations and fuelling the rise of the ‘everything traveller’ – a new guest set to blend emerging and traditional behaviours in 2025.

SiteMinder’s data highlights five key areas where Indian travellers are prompting hotels to evolve:

Online booking experience
For their 2025 stays, Indian travellers will demand top-tier digital experiences. Nearly 65% have abandoned an online booking before, rising to 80% among Gen Zs (aged 18-27), the most globally. Website load times (30%), complicated payment processes (26%) and concerns about security (25%) are the main drivers of website abandonment.

Digital presence and reputation management
Indian travellers are rapidly becoming more reliant on online forums (19%) and social media (12%) to start their hotel search, and are now seven times more likely to use these channels than seek hotel tips from family or friends (4%).

Room sale strategies
Only 30% of Indian travellers will book a Standard (basic quality) Room in 2025, ranking them among the lowest globally for basic room selections. However, their room preferences and needs are quickly evolving. Nearly 79% are now more likely to purchase their room as part of a travel package, while 92% are open to paying more for an eco-friendly option and 61% plan to work on-site.

Events and dynamic pricing
Driven by family celebrations (51%) and weddings (33%), 89% of Indian travellers are more likely to travel for an event in 2025. As they do, a strong majority (84%) support hotels being able to adjust their prices during busier periods, with only 3% opposed to this concept.

Revenue maximisation per guest
Indian travellers are projected to lead all travellers globally for time on site in 2025, with 80% expecting to spend most or a significant amount of time at their hotel. Additionally, 74% intend to spend more money on their accommodation, offering hotels an opportunity to capitalise on those seeking to make the most of their stay – for example, the 44% likely to seek yoga classes or the 40% expected to take cultural cooking classes.

SiteMinder’s regional vice president of the Asia-Pacific, Bradley Haines, says hotels in Australia, the US, the UAE, Canada and the UK – the five destinations Indian travellers intend to travel to most next year – should take particular note of these findings.

“Our data confirms the need for technology to meet the demands of an increasingly multifaceted traveller next year, and no one is pushing the hotel industry to change faster than the savvy Indian traveller,” noted Haines.

“Hotels today are operating in an era where guests hold increasing influence over their stays, and it’s clear that the evolving needs of those guests are both broad and deeply specific. This is what the everything traveller personifies – the need to be both impulsive and considered, to travel locally as well as overseas, and to have a clear demand for control.

“Hotels looking to find success in 2025 would do well to accommodate these nuanced preferences, using data-driven insights to anticipate guest needs and deliver the stay they envision. This will be especially important when targeting and welcoming the Indian traveller, who is set to arrive at hotels with greater complexity and in higher numbers than ever before.”

View the report here.