In the latest episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast, Abhilasha Negi and Akash Dahiya, co-founders of travel fintech firm Sankash, talk to Skift Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia about how the unprecedented boom in leisure travel after the easing of restrictions imposed during the pandemic have led to the rise of Travel Now Pay Later offerings. Sankash has been working with online travel agencies like EaseMyTrip and Musafir to offer flexible payment options to Indian travelers. The travel fintech firm also offers Sail Now Pay Later options for cruises.

Summary Agoda has recently made significant moves in the Indian market, including appointing Ayushmann Khurana as their brand ambassador, launching their first TV ad in India, and forming a partnership with Snapdeal. Rathi explains that one of Agoda's key strategies in India is to collaborate with various partners, given the rich startup ecosystem and the large number of users already online. They aim to tap into Snapdeal's user base to offer Agoda's services to a wider audience, particularly in tier two and tier three cities. On the impact of celebrity endorsements on brands in India, where film and cricket celebrities have a significant influence on consumer trust and brand recognition, Agoda's collaboration with Ayushmann Khurana is seen as a way to make the brand more endearing to Indian consumers. The conversation delves into the changing travel trends in India, with an increasing number of people, including the middle class, traveling more frequently. The post-Covid era has seen a surge in domestic and international travel, driven by a newfound love for travel and the economic stability of the Indian market. India is now a focus market for various countries, including those in the subcontinent. Rathi also emphasizes the role of family travel in India and highlights how Indian travelers often explore destinations closer to home. He notes that the frequency of travel has increased, and international tourists are also showing a growing interest in India. Regarding Agoda's alignment with the Indian market, Rathi explains that Agoda recognizes India's strong tech focus and has set up a global tech center in the country. India's mobile-first approach and smartphone adoption have positioned it as one of the largest markets for mobile app adoption. The Agoda India chief acknowledges the importance of delivering value for money and high standards of customer service in India. Agoda invests in understanding customer feedback and continuously strives to provide the best deals for its customers. In terms of future developments, Agoda is working to make it easier for partners to list their properties on their platform and is also focusing on promoting sustainable tourism. On the consumer side, it aims to continue offering the best prices and is expanding its advertising campaigns to reach more Indian consumers, like the one with Ayushmann Khurana.

In this episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast, Dhruv Shringi, CEO and co-founder of Yatra.com, in conversation with Skift’s Peden Doma Bhutia, talks about timing the India IPO launch in September and how Yatra is looking at the booming travel market in the country. Delving into the integration of technology into Yatra's services, Shringi shares about going beyond the standard booking functionality and how subscription programs like Yatra Prime play a pivotal role in enhancing customer satisfaction.

The Red Sea Global may not have very ambitious visitor numbers, but it is looking at India as a crucial source market. Speaking about Red Sea Global’s interest in the Indian market, Reema Almokhtar, director – travel trade marketing, tells Skift Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia about how they are looking to deliver value to Indian tourists.

In this episode of the Skift India Podcast Aloke Bajpai, the CEO and co founder of Ixigo, talks to Skift Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia about the "next billion Indian opportunity" in tier-2 and tier-3 markets. Bajpai narrates how the substantial increase in disposable income among the rising middle class in India is rapidly reshaping the country's travel landscape. Bajpai also talks about the long-awaited Ixigo IPO.  Bajpai discusses show Ixigo places a strong emphasis on creating a culture of empathy and ownership among its employees, which has greatly contributed to the high level of customer satisfaction they provide. Bajpai highlights the importance of understanding the Indian travel market, noting that only 25% of the market is currently transacted through online travel agencies (OTAs). He believes that the real growth will come from reaching the next billion users, especially those in smaller cities and emerging middle-class consumers. Ixigo aims to tap into this potential by expanding its services beyond flights and trains, including packages, tours, and hotels. Bajpai also discusses Ixigo’s move into AI-driven solutions and the role of AI in the OTA industry. Ixigo has been an early adopter of AI, introducing chatbots and leveraging large language models to enhance user experiences. He describes the evolution of AI as transformative for top-of-the-funnel behaviors, making trip planning more personalized and interactive. Regarding the topic of an IPO, Bajpai shares that Ixigo is currently focusing on execution and will consider public listing in the future, with a possibility of evaluating it next year. This is in line with the growing trend of Indian travel companies going public, demonstrating the maturity and profitability of the sector.

In this episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast, Skift Asia Editor, Peden Doma Bhutia, talks to Cleartrip CEO, Ayyappan Ragagopal, about the online travel company's  journey post the acquisition by Indian ecommerce platform Flipkart. Ayyappan also sheds light on Cleartrip's vision of becoming a travel superapp as it looks to capture the relatively nascent "browse and buy" market in India and the online travel company's various initiatives in the travel and fintech space.

Skift Founder and CEO Rafat Ali in conversation with Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia, talks about launching the Skift India Summit in Delhi-NCR on March 20-21, 2024. Skift has been documenting India's rise in the global travel industry and is set to shape its future. With the outbound Indian traveler gaining global influence and the booming domestic market, Skift India Summit will explore the future of travel, focusing on India's role and global opportunities.

Neha Arora, the founder of Planet Abled, an inclusive travel brand promoting travel for persons with disabilities and the elderly, talks to Skift’s Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia about why it's important for the Indian travel Industry to be more accessible and inclusive.

One of the segments that has started showing results for MakeMyTrip is its corporate travel platform, MyBiz. “Pre-pandemic, we were not predominantly playing in this segment. A large part of our business used to be business-to-consumer, but during the pandemic we accelerated our efforts on acquiring new customers on small and medium enterprises as well as for large corporates,” Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO of MakeMyTrip, told Skift’s Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia in the latest episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast. A key reason why MakeMyTrip was not focused on corporate business, according to Magow, was the limited deployment of technology in the segment. “We always felt there was less innovation in this space and we should wait for our opportunity,” he added.  The intent is to automate the entire booking process for corporate travelers’ domestic and international flights. The platform also offers a range of services, including booking hotels in India and overseas, trains, cabs, bus, among other offerings.  Business travel in India is recovering faster than in other markets.  Despite being a late entrant in the corporate travel segment, MyBiz has already become one of the leading online travel agencies in the space owing to its high level of automation and transparency. The platform has recently crossed the 50,000-client user base within just four years of its launch. How AI is Powering Travel Experiences MakeMyTrip’s recent roll-out of a voice chat service, powered by artificial intelligence assistant, is designed to help users book flights and holidays by offering personalized and relevant information without having to scroll through multiple reviews.  “For example, it can summarize hotel reviews and extract individual traveler impressions. We’ve also tried to make it easier by building separate tags categorized under ‘food’, ‘rooms’, etc. to enhance the customer experience,” said Magow.  The generative AI integration, involving simple visual cues and voice commands in native Indian languages, analyzes specific user requirements and sifts through thousands of options to recommend more relevant holiday packages.  The idea, according to Magow, is to learn from some of these use cases through customer feedback and continue to fine-tune them to deliver a good experience. 3 Key Takeaways from the Episode Despite soaring airfares and hotel rates, the overall consumer sentiment has been positive given the growing inclination towards spending a larger portion of disposable income in travel. With travelers’ desire to experience offbeat locations, the company is expanding its inventory of alternative accommodations — comprising hostels, service apartments, and homestays/villas. Seasonality tailwinds and changing habits of the Indian traveler led MakeMyTrip post its highest-ever quarterly gross bookings at $1.98 billion.

More Indians are taking personal loans to travel and meet vacation-related expenses, according to Madhavan Menon, executive chairman of Thomas Cook India.  “The average Indian traveler is now more willing to spend rather than save. They want to indulge in new experiences such as motorcycle rides from Leh to Ladakh, glamping, and trekking,” Menon told Skift’s Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia in the latest episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast. In fact, a study by online loan platform Paisabazaar revealed that as many as 21% of consumers took a personal loan for vacation in the first half of the year — with 81% for domestic travel and 19% for foreign travel in the first quarter of financial year 2023. Menon also pointed out the emergence of the Indian traveler who would rather go on several short vacations and weekend getaways instead of one long holiday. To capitalize on the growing demand for these trips, Thomas Cook in July launched “India’s Incredible Short Breaks,” which is emerging from not just India’s metros and mini metros but also tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

The overall nights booked on Airbnb in India have grown by almost 70% in 2022 as compared to pre-pandemic levels while domestic nights grew by 110%. “We have seen more than double growth in bookings for international travels during the January-March quarter this year when compared to the corresponding period last year,” Airbnb’s General Manager for India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Amanpreet Singh Bajaj told Skift’s Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia in the latest episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast. The company in June signed a memorandum of understanding with India’s Ministry of Tourism to promote the country as a sought-after tourism destination and shine a spotlight on its cultural heritage. It also launched a dedicated ‘Soul of India’ microsite that showcases a range of heritage stays across the country.  “Destination promotion is a big part of this partnership. We don’t want to just focus on India’s tourism hotspots but also work with underserved communities and regions, train people there so that we are able to position India on the global map holistically,” said Bajaj. As part of the partnership, Airbnb is also offering support to hosts in untapped tourist areas, assisting them in promoting their homestays, building host capacity, and fostering a culture of responsible hosting. “We are sharing travel insights and homestay insights with the Ministry of Tourism so it leads to a more informed ecosystem in terms of responsible tourism policies and training requirements,” he added. Over the years, Airbnb inked deals with the tourism departments of Goa, Maharashtra and a few Northeastern states to boost hinterland and homestay tourism and enable capacity building of hospitality entrepreneurs in the states.  “When we work with the government, there is a growing consciousness in terms of creating policies that are easy in terms of registration requirements for a host so that it attracts more people to undertake this micro entrepreneurial opportunity,” said Bajaj. Several states which have adopted homestay policies are now encouraging more people to open up their homes to the world.  “We are working with state governments to share global best practices and create awareness about policies as part of our collaboration with the tourism ministry for our hosts to comply with the requirements from respective states,” he said. Other Takeaways from the Episode Since November last year, twice as many prospective hosts are now matching with superhosts and receiving personalized guidance as they navigate the process of becoming first-time hosts.  Travel is increasingly led by millennials and Gen Zs who value experiential travel by making responsible choices, tread off-the-beaten paths, and exercise flexibility in planning their travels. Airbnb, with its platform and the use of technology, creates the perfect avenue for both hospitality and entrepreneurship — passion points that are intrinsic to Indian culture. With features like identity verification, background checks, and round-the-clock helplines in multiple languages, Airbnb ensures the safety of both guests and hosts. Tourism is now spreading beyond the hotspots where only a few cities or neighborhoods would benefit from the tourism dollars. Communities have taken center stage, which contribute towards supporting the regional microeconomics and even the national economy.

Moving away from mundane heritage walks, Eesha Singh, co-founder of No Footprints, brings a new take to storytelling through tour experiences.  With 35 experiences in Mumbai and Delhi, No Footprints aims to highlight neglected conversations about culture, people and communities.  “Instead of making history sound boring, we wanted to be humorous when we started our journey in tourism. We wanted to look at storytelling from the lens of a standup comedy and ensure that a city is understood well in a couple of hours,” Singh told Skift’s Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia in the latest episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast.   Launching with the “Mumbai by Dawn” tour in 2014, the company later developed community-focused tours around Parsis, East Indians and the indigenous Koli fishing community in the city.  Some of its prominent tours are: Mumbai by Dawn: Starting at 5 a.m., these tours explore the inner workings of the city — from newspaper and milk delivery to fishing, fruit and vegetable distribution. “Mumbai is best experienced at dawn, right before the chaos sets in,” said Singh.  Queer Day Out: Usually led by a queer tour activist, this tour maps out the journey of queer history in the country. “When we launched this tour, people were confusing queer tours with queer-friendly tours,” Singh said. “And so we needed people to understand queer narratives, queer history and queer subculture.”  Refugee Food Tour: These tours help travelers understand how international communities are reclaiming their identities through food. Singh spoke of how celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor did a whole tour with them in Delhi to understand the capital’s refugee community.   Earlier in April, No Footprints hosted celebrities and curated tours for actors Tom Holland and Zendaya, model Gigi Hadid, and chef Nigella Lawson on their visit to Mumbai.  New Habits of the Indian Traveler Indian travelers are now more keen on experiences than simply ticking off an items on a bucket list.  “When we launched our experiential tours, we were not sure if the domestic traveler would take them on. But we have observed a heightened interest among them to seek for experiences beyond food and drink in a city,” said Singh.  The company recently conducted a foraging workshop and worked with The Bombay Natural History Society to understand wildlife conservation.  Pre-pandemic, No Footprints was catering to the inbound market.  “We’ve been lucky to be at the right place at the right time. As the local audience had no access to travel outside of their city, we started doing a lot of backyard tourism which encouraged people to become tourists in their own backyards, to explore and reconnect with places very close to home,” said Singh.   Additionally, the company started offering immersive workshop-led tours during weekends for the domestic traveler and also engaged with schools to make integrations into the curriculum that enables students to learn more about their city. “In a way, domestic travelers’ changing travel preferences aligned perfectly with our offering post-Covid,” she said.

India-headquartered travel tech firm RateGain thinks it is in a “very commanding position” to double its revenue over the next three years.  A software-as-a-service solutions provider for the hospitality and travel industry, RateGain feeds real-time consumer insights into its software, packages it and sells it as a subscription to airlines, hotels, and online travel agents.   Speaking with Skift’s Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia in the latest episode of the Skift India Travel Podcast, co-founder Bhanu Chopra listed out the company’s growth levers as: Penetrating Key Markets: RateGain is keen on further expansion into Europe and U.S. and looks to develop new products for these markets.  Investment in Research and Development: RateGain plans to address some of the gaps in its overall vision to build an integrated tech stack — which enables customers to acquire guests, engage with them, and retain them.  Pursuing Mergers and Acquisitions: The company continues to seek out travel tech firms that have established complimentary products or capabilities. Earlier this year, RateGain acquired Adara, a Silicon Valley-based firm in travel martechand predictive consumer intelligence, the company’s fourth acquisition and the first since it went public in 2021. Adara focuses on finding ways to measure the actual travel intent of a customer. The Silicon Valley-based firm helps consumer brands find new customers using targeting technology powered by data sourced from travel and hospitality companies. “We now have the secret sauce through the acquisition, which lets us know the travel intent of the ultimate user,” said Chopra.  Prior to Adara, when the company worked with a number of enterprise customers across online travel agencies, airlines, hotels and car rental companies, there was a significant overlap in customers.  “Now we offer customers a more end-to-end offering and be a one-stop shop for them, which makes it a lot more compelling in terms of the interoperability that we are able to achieve on the different products we are servicing them,” he added. RateGain aims to expand in various areas, including sales, product development, and engineering. “We are being relentless in ensuring that we are both upgrading and upskilling our talent because it’s the people that will drive the business forward,” said Chopra. The company recently appointed Peter Strebel as President for the Americas region. Strebel previously served as the chairman of Omni Hotels & Resorts and was chief marketing officer for the Wyndham Hotel Group, where he later became the president.

In this episode of the Skift India Podcast, catch Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia in conversation with Santosh Kumar, Country Head, ISC and Indonesia at Booking.com. Tune in as they dive deep into the world of Indian tourism – a true powerhouse in the global tourism landscape.

As of June 2023, India is part of the “100 Club” with an index score of 113 indicating a complete recovery to pre-pandemic performance levels, according to Skift's State of Travel report. Skift Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia is joined by Research Analysts Saniya Zanpure and Ashab Rizvi, as they discuss the report and India’s performance in the global travel recovery scenario. Read more from The State of Travel 2023 Read the Skift India Report

Through insightful conversations, expert analysis, and compelling stories, the Skift India Travel Podcast aims to delve into the dynamic and ever-evolving business of travel in India. Skift Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia will be joined by business leaders and experts from throughout the industry and Skift's newsroom. Together, they'll explore the challenges, opportunities, and trends shaping the Indian travel industry. Listen to the Skift India Travel Podcast starting July 28th on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms.