Travel firms are responding to the needs of the great unbanked in India with an increasing number of cash-on-delivery payment options.
The WTM Global Trends Report 2015 highlighted the scale of the Indian population without access to banking facilities.
It estimates there are half a billion Indians without a bank account and cash-on-delivery payment models are evolving to be able to serve these people.
"For many of these consumers, travel and online booking of tickets may appear an unrealistic dream, but the situation is slowly changing as travel companies reach out to the unbanked," the report said.
Several Indian travel companies have begun to adopt CoD services it said.
Among these, Jet Airways has teamed up with CoD payments specialist GharPay and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) set up BookMyTrain.com, where passengers can book online an receive tickets at their home address where cash payment is made.
Hotel booking site Travelguru also operates a similar service.
The report sees exponential growth in this area of e-commerce alongside growth in mobile banking.
"Internet access for India’s rural population and smaller cities looks set to expand dramatically, leading to over 320 million internet users by 2019. This improved internet access, combined with a growing availability of mobile phones, is likely to result in increased mobile payments and applications for unbanked consumers," the report added.
"The sheer scale of this untapped market is staggering, so it’s great to see how technology is bringing travel opportunities to millions of consumers," said World Travel Market senior director, Simon Press.
