Ask Me Anything: About Indian Guests - Q&A by an Indian Host

[Jeet0]

Hello fellow hosts,

Did you know that 20+ million Indian guests travel overseas every year?! I was stunned when I found out too and it is estimated that this number will increase 6 times in the next 20 years. There's a high chance that you might get the opportunity to host some lovely guests from India in near future if you already haven't.

I am a host from India and have hosted more than 180 Indian guests in the last 2.5 years. I have been a little around the world and stayed at different Airbnbs, thus, I can say that I understand, upto some extent, the differences between hosting styles, guest expectations etc. across different cultures.

Early this year I made a post with 5 Tips to Host Indian Guests and it received a great response from the community. Hence, I thought of initiating a Q&A to answer other quesitons that you might have about Indian Guests, their expectations, habits, interests and other nuances which you might be interested to understand.

Please post them below and I'll try my best to answer all after 24 hours.

Please Remember:

1) To be respectful, do not use foul language/rant/rave

2) This is not an attempt to sterotype Indians. I'm only sharing my personal experience with Indian guests.

3) India has extremely diverse cultures with more than a billion people, thus you might not have similar experiences with all guests. And your experience may not match with mine.

4) If you find this useful/interesting, please hit the thumbs up button to let me know 🙂

Thank you!

Jeet

[Andrea9]

Great Idea @Jeet0, since indeed there are often posts on this forum from hosts who are puzzled at different behaviours and expectations of their Indian guests. Cultures can be so different, which is exciting, but can be frustrating when misunderstanding the other and their needs.

[Jeet0]

Thanks @Andrea9.

I totally agree. It takes a lot of learnings to remain calm and patient. Things which can be normal at some regions ( for eg. taking off shoes outside the house or buying small presents for guests/hosts) might not be the same at others. It'll be great if we can share some nuances 🙂

[Marit-Anne0]

@Jeet0

Send some Indians my way please 😉  Looks like most prefer hotels - perhaps it is considered "cheap" to stay in apartments ?

Indians are very good at asking questions on TripAdvisor though - I like that !

Only had one Indian couple - they insisted on bringing a gift.  I am now in the posession of some beautiful handloomed silk that eventually is going to be a wall hanging in my apartment.  

[Jeet0]

Thanks for sharing Marit 🙂

That's very sweet of them. I usually carry some organic Assam tea or some Artifacts when I stay at Airbnbs outside. 

I dont think staying at an apartment is considered "cheap". In fact, most guests these days are ditching traditional hotels. 

If I ever come to see the Northern lights. I'll definitely stay with you if you'd like 🙂

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jeet0 we host for a year and never had any Indian guests

[Jeet0]

Greetings Branka & Silvia,

How are you?

Thanks for sharing this. Unfortunately, Croatia is not a very popular destination amongst Indians. The top 10 maybe Thailand, Singapore, Dubai, Indonesia, Paris, London, New York, Switzerland, Italy, Greece.

But hold on there. I'm sure with the expected growth in tourism, you might get a request from an Indian guest 🇮🇳 😊

[Piero34]

Good morning and what a great idea. I have started in 2017 in Florence ( the name is Asso's Place) and would love to have Indian Guests.
Is there something you recommend to attract them eg in the description or else (gifts etc) ? Do Indians use AIRB&B a lot ? Thanks, Piero

[Jeet0]

Ciao @Piero34,

How are you? Thanks for your question. A lot of Indian's visit Florence and Rome every year. I was there last week and absolutely loved the charm of your city.

Airbnb is fast catching up in India and a lot of Indians have started giving it a try. I lived at an Airbnb during my trip.

You might want to include things like milk, eggs, bread and fruits if you are not already offering breakfast in order to attract guests in general. If you have a kitchen or just a microwave or an induction cooker with a few utensils, then that's a big plus too. Make sure you have 1 photo of these in your listing so that it is more evident. 

You don't need to necessarily add gifts as that is not an expectation. You have a lovely place with an amazing view of the dome with all positive reviews, so I'm sure in near future you'll see some Indian guests, hopefully. The peak season is between November - January and March to June.

I hope this helps 🙂

Have a nice day!

[Piero34]

Thanks very much. I will come back after the first experiences, Piero

[Shivam2]

Yes Piero. I work for Airbnb(India office, Gurgaon). Tourism in India is growing in leaps and bounds. So, you will certainly host an Indian guest soon 🙂 Happy hosting and thanks for being part of our Airbnb community.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Jeet0

Thank you Jeet. Since I removed the photo of my pots and pans, the rice cooker etc. I have not had any Asian guests at all.  And I notice that many young Asian tourists are whistle stop travellers while I have a 3 night minimum.

Northern Lights from my balcony - unfortunately I am hardly ever there during the NL-season except for September.

@Branka-and-Silvia0

Indians would not choose anywhere not allowing them to cook aromatic food 😉

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Marit-Anne0 😄 lol

We also don't have photos of our pans and pots, we don't have rice cooker or wok but we still have a lot Asian guests from China and Korea. I think 3 days minimum is the reason why you don't have Asian guests 

[Jeet0]

Hey @Marit-Anne0, have you just removed the photo or have you removed the utensils from the house too? If it's just the photo then you might want to add it back 😉

Also it's true that Indians, especially families prefer to stay at Airbnbs which have a basic small kitchen so that they can make breakfast and some light dinner just to save some bucks and spend them on other things in the city. Plus, some guests can't just survive without at least 1 Indian mean per day so they prefer if they have the facility to cook.

That's a great observation. 

[Marit-Anne0]

@Jeet0

Since it is my second home and I like to cook, all the pots and pans are there and the suitability for self catering is often commented upon 🙂

Certain guests do not even make a cup of coffee though - they go to Starbucks across the street ! They just book an airbnb because it is cheaper than a hotel.