‘Customers are value-oriented, not cost-oriented’

After being stifled through the pandemic, Indian travellers and the tourism industry thereof are out with a vengeance. The advent of online travel agents (OTAs) offering a combination of bookings for travel, accommodation and also holiday packages on one platform, has only boosted this frenzied bustle.

The global OTA market is expected to grow to $865.5 billion in 2023 (from $761.9 billion in 2022), reflecting a compound growth rate (CAGR) of 13.6 per cent, according to Research and Markets, a global market research firm. In fact, Asia Pacific was the largest region in the online travel agent market in 2022.

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Though a late entrant, EaseMyTrip, became the first OTA to be listed on Indian bourses and is today the second-largest online travel agent after MakeMyTrip. Prashant Pitti, Co-founder, EaseMyTrip, discussed the trends his industry is witnessing and the scope for MSME players in the sector, with DH’s Lavpreet Kaur.

Edited excerpts from the interaction:

Tell us about your entry into this sector and the journey of building the brand.

Well, the journey has been extremely enriching. The company grew bootstrapped, never raising any capital to become the second-largest travel portal - this does not happen often. We started as a small mom-and-pop travel agency called Duke Travel Agency in 2006. Between 2008 and 2011 we were a software company serving travel agents - a complete B2B. In these three years, we built relationships with airlines and also worked with technology. In 2011, we realised this business would not sustain 10 years down the line and pivoted to customer-facing business (B2C). With well-established players around, the company was under severe pressure to make a differential offering.

What were the key drivers for your business?

Every decade sees a couple of industries surging. When we launched EaseMyTrip it was a travel decade. A lot of airlines took off between 2006 and 2008 - 7 of them to be precise. One thing to do as an MSME investor, you need to spot the industry upsurge you can piggyback on. The last decade was related to food, e-commerce and travel. This decade is going to be related to machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and nanotechnologies and it is going to be a lot about Indian manufacturing, with China’s appeal waning.

What about the role of technology in travel platforms?

That is something you have to constantly innovate. You can’t get complacent in any business. We clearly see that in the next few years, AI is going to be so powerful that travel executives may become obsolete and we have to brace for it. Even if you don’t have the knowledge, acquire it. Every industry goes through a cycle and you have to stay relevant, no matter what. In a year you can become obsolete or evolve, garnering a decade’s worth of momentum, if you are doing things right.

How has the Indian customer evolved post-pandemic?

One of the biggest travel trends that I am seeing right now is that people have started valuing their privacy a lot more than before. The percentage of four or five-star hotel bookings that were happening pre-pandemic, has almost doubled post-pandemic. The number of business class travellers (in air travel) has also doubled post-pandemic. So people are spending. While most people term this as revenge travel, I do not agree. I believe it is a new way of travel, people have learned to live in the present. I believe customers are value-oriented rather than cost-oriented and if you can give them value for what they are paying, the numbers can go higher.