Varsha Arora

Skift Research Manager

Covers Proprietary Consumer Insights, Market Sizing, Industry Benchmarks

Varsha works on Skift Research's consumer research and survey capabilities, leading the development of the team's proprietary consumer insights tool.

Since joining Skift Research in 2021 as the company's first hire in India, she has published reports on sustainability in tourism, online travel companies, short-term rentals, destination management organizations, and the global accommodation market.

Before Skift, Varsha spent five years in the strategic division at one of India's top airlines before moving to an aviation consulting firm. For someone who loves to travel, she considers herself fortunate to have built a career in the travel industry.

Areas of Research

Varsha specializes in global travel consumer research, leading large-scale survey programs that deliver actionable insights across regions and markets. Her expertise in survey design, cross-market analysis, and rapid-turnaround reporting enables Skift Research to track shifting traveler behavior, economic signals, and demand trends with speed and clarity.



Destinations

Destination Marketing Outlook 2022

Destination marketers have put up a positive outlook for 2022 aiming for diversified funding and revenue sources along with some crucial internal changes focusing on stakeholder engagement, targeted marketing and sustainability initiatives. It is to be seen if the changes contribute to continual recovery and growth.
Varsha Arora |
Online Travel

Mobile Commerce in Travel: A Global Perspective

Mobile is already the primary device for travel planning in the majority of the world. But for most of the travel sectors and companies, mobile bookings are yet to surpass desktop bookings in volume or value. Undoubtedly, the travel companies need to increase their mobile investment to capitalize on this shift, but, at the same time they need to have an overarching multi-device strategy in place to engage with the customer throughout.
Varsha Arora |
Online Travel

Online Travel Agency Landscape 2021: Southeast Asia

The Southeast Asian Online travel market is hyper-competitive. The industry players strive to strike a fine balance between creating the appropriate inventory mix, appealing price points, and a seamless user interface with adequate localized features to offer a bespoke product basket and carve out a niche for themselves.
Varsha Arora |
Destinations

Sustainability in Travel 2021: Quantifying Tourism Emissions for Destinations

Tourism is often assumed to be a ‘low Impact and non-consumptive development option,’ primarily because to date greenhouse gas emissions from tourism at a destination level are largely unaccounted for. Destinations have started taking sustainability seriously with growing media pressure and traveler awareness, but have a long way to go to make significant reductions in emissions long-term.
Varsha Arora |