Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Expedia.
Are the countries present on this globe closer to you? Does the word ‘travelling’ boost your daily life activities? It always accounts for around 1 out of every 11 jobs connecting its workers globally, emotionally and most importantly physically of course not on a device, but in the real atmosphere where memories do matter the most. It expands minds, feeds souls and opens hearts! Simply, travelling is a force for good.
Expedia is an American travel organization for both consumers and small businesses. It is a travel portal offering travelers a great variety of hotels in their desired destinations and many more. Read the Expedia Success Story below!
Expedia – Company Highlights
Startup Name
Expedia
Headquarters
Bellevue, Washington, US
Industry
Online Ticket booking, Hotel Booking, Travel Agency
Expedia is such an online American company that is considered to be the 8th largest travel agency in the United States. It is the one that cares about each and everyone’s budget and activities of every kind, especially during this era of competitive rates.
Rich Barton is the founder and the CEO of the company. He initially began as a General Manager at Microsoft. Then he worked at various other companies as a Board Director most of the time. He completed his education at Stanford University.
Expedia – Startup Story
Expedia initially began providing online travel services on the Microsoft Network toward the end of 1996. Microsoft in 2001 agreed to sell its interest in Expedia and it was a deal that was finalized the next year. Expedia expanded in many ways.
It grew from selling flight tickets to providing a vast range of travel products such as hotels and packaged travel plans! It also entered the corporate travel market and expanded internationally, opening sites in Canada, and other European countries.
Expedia – Mission and Vision
The mission and the vision of the company Expedia is to power global travel for everyone and everywhere!
Expedia – Tagline, Slogan and Logo
Expedia Logo
The new tagline of the company is, ‘It matters who you travel with!‘
Expedia – Business Model
Expedia has got a merchant model when it comes to the offering of hotel rooms! Expedia buys hotel accommodations at a discounted price and then turns around and sells it at a sizable markup to the end-user. Such sort of rooms are always booked in advance by the clients and then paid for hotel rooms during the time of the main purchase done by the clients.
Expedia – Revenue Model
Expedia makes money in different ways! The greatest of all those ways is through hotel reservations, which the company is mainly known for enabling clients to do. Around 70%-75% of Expedia’s revenue is generated from hoteliers, the lodging sector. Expedia has got a very simple supply and demand strategy. Flight ticket sales comprise just 3% of the entire revenue generated by the company. Car rental, insurance and other services also do play a role in generating the revenue which is just 15% of the total induced.
It initially buys up a large number of rooms at a discounted price and then advertises the bookings through its site as the cheapest one will find currently in the marketplace.
Expedia – Funding and Investors
Expedia did raise $3.3 billion in funding over the three funding rounds.
The global revenue of Expedia rose by approximately around 65% the last year that is over the previous year. There was a decrease sharply seen to $5.2 billion in 2020 because of the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Anyway, the company’s revenue went up to $8.6 billion in 2021 as the travel need improved.
Expedia – Online and Social Media Presence
Expedia has got its social media profiles present on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and also has got its professional profile present on Linked In. Not only this but also Airbnb has got its name on various famous web portals.
The competitors of the company are CWT, American Express Global Business Travel and Booking Holdings.
CWT
CWT is one of the top competitors of Expedia! It is headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota and was founded in 1994. CWT works in the Travel Industry Sector.
American Express Global Business Travel
American Express Global Business Travel is also one of the top competitors of Expedia. It is headquartered in Jersey City, NJ, USA and was founded in 2013. This company works in the Travel Agency Sector.
Booking Holdings
Booking Holdings is perceived as one of the top competitors of Expedia. It is headquartered at Norwalk, Connecticut and was founded in 1997. It operates in the Packaged Vacations and Your Operations Field.
FAQs
When was Expedia founded?
Expedia was founded in 1996 in Bellevue, Washington, US.
Faced with the constant growth of tourism, the principles of demarketing are increasingly used by destinations to limit the impact on the local population. The tourism sector is generating more and more visitors, and UNWTO estimates that by 2030, 4 million tourists will be added to the 1.4 billion people already travelling.
For many destinations, managing this boom is a significant challenge. Many of them find themselves, victims of their success, when their infrastructure was not designed to support such an increase. Demarketing offers some possible solutions in response to these challenges.
Far from being new, this concept, proposed in 1971 by Philip Kotler and Sidney Levy, is based on the idea that surpluses can be as problematic as shortages. The authors, economists, and marketers respectively, define demarketing as the aspect of marketing that aims to discourage customers (or a particular segment) on a temporary or permanent basis.
This type of strategy is already widely used in specific sectors, particularly in public health. Think of advertisements on cigarette packs or even those inviting the population to consume alcohol and game sensibly. Therefore, the idea is to limit the increase in demand rather than encourage it since growth would have negative repercussions on society.
In the current tourism context, more and more managers must reflect on this notion. Should we at all costs attract as many visitors as possible in the name of economic development?
The graph shows the total number of tourists in millions at different places for the year 2021-2022
Strategies You Can Apply to Manage the Growing Influx of Tourists
How do develop a demarketing approach? The strategies to be adopted are based on the same principles as traditional marketing: the 4Ps (promotion, place, product, price). With the help of a few examples, let’s see how these strategies fit together in the context of tourism marketing.
Promotion
When a tourist area can no longer manage the flow of visitors it attracts, and the attractions and infrastructure are oversaturated, one possible solution is to stop all forms of promotion.
The Netherlands Destination Management Organization (DMO) recently did this by announcing that it would focus its energy on managing the destination rather than promoting it.
Only little-known regions will be the subject of an international campaign. After having announced the inter-seasons, this measure comes as a last resort, relocated the famous letters “I amsterdam”, and made tourists aware of inappropriate behaviour.
IAmsterdam Sign Removed
Place
The notion of place often refers to the location of a service or business. The geolocation of attractions now makes the best-kept treasures accessible to everyone. However, this practice has consequences for the environment since specific sites, which would otherwise have remained unknown, quickly become very frequent.
In response to this phenomenon, the OGD of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, launched a campaign urging visitors to geotag their photos responsibly, using generic coordinates of a site rather than the exact location of the image.
Message by Jackson Hole to Tourists
Similarly, the World Heritage Site of Puerto Princesa, in the Philippines, wanted to limit the number of visitors to specific fragile sites by simply removing them from the tourist cards it produces.
Product
The characteristics of the product directly influence the demand for it. Thus, in a marketing strategy, the product will be intentionally made less attractive. In the case of a destination, we can think of managing tourist flows, such as the imposition of quotas or the introduction of limited time slots.
Bruce Peninsula National Park in Ontario has already implemented this type of measure. Visitors should reserve a four-hour time slot to experience the busiest area of the park.
Price
Raising access tariffs is the fourth strategy discussed in this article. This is a practice that the City of Venice is exploring. Postponed several times, one of its projects aims to introduce a fixed tax to all visitors who do not stay at least one night in the city or do not have the Venezia Unica card.
It should be noted that this type of initiative can be more controversial, particularly in a destination context, particularly natural or heritage sites, since it creates an issue of equity and favours people who can pay.
Demarketing can therefore help manage the growing influx of tourists. However, before arriving there, there is nothing like good territorial planning upstream. Apart from the basic steps, there are various strategies available to adopt for demarketing.
Demarketing is the exact opposite of marketing. In marketing, advertisements are used to increase the sale of a product. Whereas in demarketing, advertisements are responsible for the reduction in the sale of a particular product. Especially it is applied for the things that are facing a shortage.
The above article explains the use of demarketing strategies to get some help in the influx of tourists. It is mainly done to protect nature and prevent any harm to localities.
FAQs
The concept of demarketing was introduced by?
The concept was introduced by Phillip Kotler and Sidney Levy in 1971.
What is meant by demarketing?
In simple terms, demarketing means trying out different ways to reduce the use of a particular product that is in demand but with minimum supply.
What are the types of demarketing strategies?
There are multiple types of demarketing strategies. Some of them are Bait and switch marketing, Price discriminating demarketing, Stock outage demarketing, Differentiation marketing, Crowding cost demarketing, etc.
What are the four Ps of demarketing strategy?
The 4Ps of the demarketing strategy are the same as that of the marketing strategy. Place, Promotion, Product, and Price are the 4Ps included in the basic principle of the demarketing Process.
Starting a travel agency will be so much fun, fulfilling, and most profitable career. The start-up costs are relatively low and there are plenty of opportunities for someone with a passion to sell travel. Starting any business is not easy, but it certainly helps you if you have someone to advise you and give out a path. In the travel industry, there is a huge option to earn also the travel and tourism industry plays a major role in the country’s economic development. This is because people always want or need to go to places.
There are several resources available today, anyone with a passion for travelling can easily start a travel agency. In this article, we will talk about how you can start a travel agency by following some important steps. So without any further ado, let’s get started.
A niche is your friend. When you start a travel agency a niche will help you establish your brand, create your travel agency name, and navigate the world when you get to that point. Starting a travel agency without a niche is like travelling without a smartphone.
If you can confidently say that you have found a travel niche that you are passionate and knowledgeable about, then you have made a first step on the road to setting up a successful travel agency. You finding your business idea is one of the most important steps in starting a business.
Total contribution of the Indian tourism industry in billion US dollars
Choose Your Travel Agency’s Name
Choosing a company name for any kind of business is a difficult and tricky task, so you need to take some time to do some research to come up with a creative and effective name. The company name ideas that you select for your travel agency should not only be functional, but they should be catchy and noteworthy too.
When naming your agency, you will want to sit down and give some time to think about your business’s niche; how will you make your travel agency different and how can you set yourself apart? Before you start using the name that you have selected for your travel agency, make sure that it is still available and not already in use by some other company or business.
Choose a Business Structure
A base step in your travel agency business is to create a business structure. Let’s start from the ground up. You need to decide what type of business are going to have. Your options include:
Sole proprietor – Starting a sole proprietorship is easy. You can use your name and Social Security number to get started. You can use this information to get the permits and licenses that you need to start your business. When you are a sole proprietor, you can decide how you want to run your business. You can choose the job that you want to take. When you are a sole proprietor, you get all of the income that you make.
Corporation – As soon as your business becomes a corporation, you gain credibility. People are more likely to work with businesses that are a corporation than those that are not. If you are going to need help financing your business, you may need to start a corporation. When you start a corporation, you can have silent partners, who will help with financing. Corporations can offer benefits for their employees, such as health insurance.
Partnership – It is easy to set up a partnership because it is formed with an agreement between the partners. Just like it is easy to get started, it is easy to dissolve a partnership. As long as one partner is ready to stop, the partnership can change or dissolve depending on what everyone wants.
Limited Liability Company(LLC) – It is much cheaper to start an LLC than a corporation and it still gives you plenty of the same benefits. If you have a business that has plenty of risks, you may start San LLC to protect your assets. You can control your business, the way you want. Many believe that having an LLC behind your business name can make your business more official. People are more likely to work with you because your business looks more serious.
Find Some Great Partners
It makes a great value add for the customer making the booking, and the business involved gets their product in front of a large market. As travels fast in the industry, your travel partners will refer clients to your business once you have earned their trust. In return, you will do the same for them. You need to realise what type of tourism business you want to operate and what your objectives are for setting up the right partnership.
Your travel partner network needs to be a good fit for your business, and have values that align with your own. For the active participation of all parties within your travel partner network to continue, each must see some direct benefits from the relationship. You never want to end up in a situation where one is doing all the work and another enjoys the benefits.
Build Your Marketplace
Nowadays people travel a lot around this world to see the unseen and to know the unknown. As a marketplace owner, you work as a middleman and your marketplace brings lower costs to the customers by letting them purchase directly from the sellers. Travel and tourism startups can only function if they are aware of their marketplace. It is natural to think that the marketplace can get thousands of users. It is the main task of a successful marketplace to facilitate communication between the suppliers and the customers. Understanding the trends that are out there, can allow marketplace owners to decide the best tools and tactics to use for that the company’s objectives.
Adapt to Your Target Market
To develop a successful marketing technique you need to define your target audience. This is important for new businesses looking to establish their presence within the market. Analyzing the market is also about researching competitors to-be. Look out for other travel agencies, who their audience are and how they are managing them. Different regions and different suppliers may have varying profit margins. First, you have to know the situation on the market, what deals are presented, and how you are being ranked compared to your competitor travel agencies.
Travellers of all age groups are using social media networks where they talk about travel products, share experiences, or express their preferences. Use images, videos, questions, or statuses to promote and motivate potential clients to follow you.
Suggesting additional products on top of a standard package is the most straightforward method of increasing your revenue per customer. Explore and test to find out what your customers want, and use travel agency software to easily track and manage special offers and complementary products.
Combine different products into a unique travel experience. Create a package and try to offer a better price by setting a hotel, flight, and activity together.
One way to be a successful travel company is to establish your business in a niche market. The travel niche doesn’t need to be complicated or rare – but the more unique it is, the better. Niche travel means you are selling something that no one else sells, and that your product is different in some way.
The internet has changed every aspect of life and it has also affected how travellers book trips and how agencies can sell packages. Your customers can book 24/7 because the system receives and processes the reservations automatically.
A good way to stay ahead of your competitors is by offering the best possible prices on a worldwide range of high-quality travel plans.
Promote your business in Social media, when it comes to travelling, social media is the best option. Apart from that digital marketing strategies can also help you in achieving your goal.
Conclusion
While starting your travelling agency, you need to understand what can set your business apart from other travel agencies, and what you can offer that others cannot offer to the clients. If you are still in the planning stage of starting your travel agency, you need to keep in mind and follow all these steps. As everything is opening up once again after a big break because of Covid-19, the travel industry is once again back in action.
FAQs
Is tourism a big industry in India?
Travel and tourism is one of the biggest industries in India.
How much does the travel industry contribute to the Indian economy?
The tourism industry contributes over $247 billion to the Indian economy.
Which are the most popular travel agencies in India?
Till now what most of the travelers have been doing while booking international trips is to either book a pre-made package where one gets to see what the travel agents want to show, or go unplanned and explore things locally. However, there are drawbacks in both these ways. In pre-made packages, one has to rush through all or selected important tourist spots irrespective of one’s interest and do not get much time to experience and feel the destination. Again, going without a plan to a new destination can turn out to be a perfect disaster without proper knowledge and guidance. But thankfully now, there is a third way too, to plan your international trip. Pickyourtrail, a Chennai based travel startup is here to plan trips which are specially customized as per your interest, travel duration, etc. With these customized trips, one can explore a place at his own pace, while Pickyourtrail takes care of all the nuisances like hotel booking, activity booking and more.
Pickyourtrail helps travelers plan for their vacations without the pain involved in the planning. The platform uses deep-tech to let travelers create, customize and book international vacations in a jiffy. Pickyourtrail’s proprietary comfort score considers more than 40 factors like duration, travel time, ratings, etc to build personalized itineraries that travelers can further customize & book. After the trip is booked, travelers can use Pickyourtrail’s app to keep track of bookings and get real-time information on flight and weather updates, restaurant recommendations and on-trip chat support.
In February 2020, Pickyourtrail announced partnership with fintech company ZestMoney to provide consumers with flexible payment options for booking itineraries. Pickyourtrail customers will now be able to book travel packages at No Cost EMIs, along with options to ‘Travel now, pay later in 3 easy installments. Through this partnership, Pickyourtrail aims to build a wider customer base.
SomeUSPs of Pickyourtrail are–
• Trips are 100% customizable • All-round support is provided to the traveler during the trip • The travelers get to choose from unlimited traveling options based on one’s own requirements • Trips are tailored in a pocket-friendly manner.
Our goal is to become one of the top travel brands globally when it comes to vacations. Given that we have the piping/infrastructure in place in terms of automated bookings, independent modules there are a lot of opportunities for us to tap into newer businesses – Hari Ganapathy
Pickyourtrail – Industry
As per various reports, the total outbound travel market will be valued at about $40Bn by 2020. As per a recent WTO Report, India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020. Again, as per a report by a leading OTA in India, the total outbound “online” market is $3.3B. If you take in the global vacation market, that is a much larger number.
“We strongly believe that this is neither a winner takes it all market nor a shrinking pie; there is a large headroom for growth for us,” Hari says explaining the outbound travel market.
Hari Ganapathy and Srinath Shankarnarayanan are the founders of Pickyourtrail. Hari and Shankar are friends since college days. Both the founders are passionate travelers and it is their love for travel that motivated them to start Pickyourtrail.
Hari Ganapathy
Hari Ganapathy is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore. Prior to founding Pickyourtrail, Hari worked with prestigious companies like Cognizant Technology Solution, Macquarie Bank, Britannia Industries Limited, Reckitt Benckiser and InMobi.
Srinath Shankarnarayanan
Srinath Shankarnarayanan is the calm that every organisation needs. His ability to break down the everyday chaos into digestible smaller units is priceless. Srinath enjoys both math and aeroplane modeling! He is the brain behind the routing, pricing and personalization algorithm at Pickyourtrail. He holds a Bachelors in Mathematics and an MBA from NMIMS Bombay. His ability to talk across subjects right from Sitcoms, bikes, wartime books, plane building to complex algorithms make him a great person to hang out with!
Team PickyourTrail
Pickyourtrail – Startup Story | How was Pickyourtrail Started?
Pickyourtrail began as an attempt to break how vacations are currently been planned and booked by travelers. The seed to all this began in August 2012 when co-founders – Hari & Srinath went on a Europe trip.
Ardent travelers themselves, the duo had put in more than 2 months to fully craft their vacation. This included planning end-end, bookings, and visa processing. It was during their trip they stumbled upon fellow travelers who were all on packaged tours. Interacting with them, Hari & Srinath understood they were literally rushed between destinations and their urge to discover new experiences wasn’t fulfilled. The travelers, on the other hand, were amazed to see the flexibility Hari and Srinath had in their itinerary and that piqued their interest.
Once back home, the duo was bombarded with pings asking for details on how they went about planning the entire trip. These interactions slowly multiplied and this lead to an idea that changed their career roadmaps forever!
Pickyourtrail – Name, Tagline and Logo
Pickyourtrail was a name that embodied choice and travel.
“In fact we got early customers calling it Pickmytrail and luckily we got that domain as well :)” Hari says.
Initially, Pickyourtrail’s tagline was, Stop Touring, Start Travelling, this was easily relatable to the new age travelers who didn’t want to be tourists. That was also in sync with the company’s early goals of getting more folks to travel at their own pace and style. The company’s current tagline is ‘Unwrap the World’.
“As we matured and built a brand, we now have moved to Unwrap the World. We believe this helps us position the brand globally and has a lot more emotional layers than the earlier one” – Hari says explaining the thought behind the tagline
Pickyourtrail’s first logo was aimed around a play on infinite options that were possible if we traveled.
Pickyourtrail’s first logo
The current logo was re-built with the need that the old logo could not easily fit into various shapes and color backgrounds. Pickyourtrail wanted to move to a logo which could scale across collaterals and use cases. The new logo symbolizes a flag and P and a baggage tag as well. The ideation behind this was – a flag is generally used to symbolize a group of people united by a cause or value system.
Pickyourtrail’s current logo
Pickyourtrail – Launching Startup
Pickyourtrail was launched initially as an activity market place – the positioning was – “when was the last time you did something for the first time?” While there was a lot of traffic on the product, the traffic to conversion was quite low. Interacting with the customers, the team realized the biggest problem was no hook to book. With hotels and flights, pricing and availability were strong hooks. With an activity, there was no real hook. In this process, they realized that planning an end to end vacation was a huge hassle. This time around the team decided to just build a minimum viable product for end-to-end travel planning, and had a simple landing page. This got Pickyourtrail almost 10000 sign-ups in the first few weeks and there was no looking back!
Pickyourtrail’s initial landing page which attracted 10000+ signups within a few weeks
Looking at the great interest that people showed towards end to end travel planning, Pickyourtrail launched VEHO in 2016 –this was its first attempt at building a product where travelers can create, customize, and book vacations online.
“We were quite skeptical about market response and hence launched it under a new name VEHO. We scaled Bali on the back of VEHO and then brought it back under the mother brand in 2017” – said the Pickyourtrail founders.
Pickyourtrail – Revenue Model
Pickyourtrail earns revenue from affiliate commissions or partner commissions that come in from the partners with whom the bookings are done.
Pickyourtrail – Funding and Investors
Pickyourtrail raised series A funding worth $3 Million in February 2019. The company further raised an undisclosed sum on March 22, 2022, from a clutch of investors including CRED founder and CEO Kunal Shah, Adit Parekh, Vina Ahuja and other existing investors. The total amount raised by Pickyourtral is more than $3 mn.
Funding Date
Funding Stage
Funding Amount
Investors
March 22, 2022
Venture Round
Kunal Shah, Adit Parekh, Vina Ahuja and other existing investors
February 18, 2019
Series A
$3 Million
Kumar Vembu and Shyam Sekhar and j joined by Rajagopal Subramanian and Girish Mathrubootham
Pickyourtrail – User Acquisition
Pickyourtrail acquired its first set of customers from referrals and word of mouth. “When a product or service solves long-standing pain points of customers, it accrues good karma. I still remember how our first landing page (personalized vacations, crafted by travelers) was a huge hit! We got 1000 sign-ups within a week. Our emails kept buzzing. And we actually had to start charging folks to start sending itineraries cos there was so much demand”Hari recalls
Speaking about Pickyourtail’s approach to customers Hari says,“I think like most good products or services, there is always a latent demand and we seem to have hit that wall with our clear positioning. The challenge has been to continue the same amount of quality even as we scale. Every customer whom we brought on board was not a transaction but a longer LTV(Lifetime Value) view. That view has helped us build trust and build the ever-increasing repeat and referral cohort!”
Pickyourtrail also used social media extensively to reach out to customers
“The first step was to ensure that we had enough followers on the Facebook page. This was around 2013 and Facebook still let you bulk invite friends to like pages. We ensured that every single friend of ours helped us gain more followers by inviting folks”.Pickyourtrail concentrated on posting original travel content that was inspirational. This helped the company gain a lot of engagement on the page without having to actually spend.
In between, Pickyourtrail also dabbled some ideas in Twitter where it would automatically be alerted for any tweet with vacation/itinerary. The team would jump in and answer those questions and plug Pickyourtrail.
The next hack that worked for Pickyourtrail was sending interesting offers to its subscriber base. Over the first 6 months, the company managed to get up to 5000 email user base and that short tactical campaign helped them garner more monies.
Hari shared another interesting technique that the Pickyourtrail team employed to get customers on board “At one point we went into competitor Facebook pages and pulled out numbers of folks who were requesting for an itinerary and called them. You would be surprised that almost 8/10 folks were unhappy with the competitor cos nobody would have responded. So we tweaked our strategy a bit and started calling folks only after a couple of days :)”
The Pickyourtrail team also used groups in FB wisely.
Rather than promoting itself, the Pickyourtrail team used its travel knowledge to answer questions in those groups and at the same time spoke about Pickyourtrail.
Besides, answering on Quora also worked for the company. Pickyourtrail answered about everything under the sun with respect to outbound vacations which helped it attract more customers.
Currently, Pickyourtrail is actively running campaigns (paid/organic) to grow its customer base and deliver happiness.
If we had to reflect on the initial strategy – it was around building good content and distributing it. Be it FB, Twitter, Quora. And this when combined with some tactical strategies like Twitter lead alerts, or FB groups it worked quite well. Once we had a flow of customers our execution capabilities ensured that the cycle of repeat and referral kicked in as well.
Hiring and scaling the tech team was one of the main challenges Pickyourtrail faced early on. Another issue that existed was that many supply partners did not have an online presence, making things tough for the Pickyourtrail team.
As Hari explains, “Once the tech hiring happened, we realized that a lot of supply partnerships was still offline. This meant that customers still had to wait to get their customized quotes. We weren’t happy that the CX was poor because of industry constraints. For a large part of our supply, we took huge risks and had static pricing. While there could have been potential losses, thanks to our learning algorithms we could revisit these static prices periodically to ensure we minimize exposure. Our focus on “speed as a habit” has helped us come up with quite a few of these hacks and put customer experience at the forefront of all our efforts”
Pickyourtrail – Competitors
While Pickyourtrail claims that it has no competition in terms of tech or business model, from a customer’s point of view, competition comes right from Thomas Cook, Cox and Kings, MakeMyTrip to even self-bookers.
What differentiates the Pickyourtrail from its competitors is broadly two things: a) Itineraries that are executable – There are the host of tech companies trying to solve the trip planning problem. Given they don’t take responsibility for the end experience, the itinerary is not necessarily well thought out. At Pickyourtrail, thanks to the combination of routing, personalization and pricing algorithms – the company is able to own the entire end to end consumer experience and ensure that each and every itinerary is bookable!
b) Touch + Tech Model – A vacation is an emotional purchase and needs consultative selling given that the average ticket size is around 2.5lakhs. Pickyourtrail uses tech to manage critical components like routing, pricing, etc. Parts of the vacation that need high emotional quotient like choosing cities or visa, we bring in a human touch to ensure the overall experience is seamless. This unique approach has also helped Pickyourtrail win recognition from Google and BCG.
We are extremely cautious as we try and balance the scale and standardization game. We cannot ever put our customer happiness on the back burner. In fact, one of the key levers for our growth is unprecedented leaps in customer delight.
Pickyourtrail – Growth
● In 2018, Pickyourtrail’s revenue run rate stood at around $9.5 Million ● Number of travelers who picked their trail has grown by ~115% ( 2018-2019 data) ● Peak concurrent traveler stood at 100 people in a day ● Over 300,000 personalized itineraries was created in the first half of 2019 ● NPS score of 72 is a testimony of the unrelenting focus on customer happiness.
Pickyourtrail has been recognized for its efforts and services. Some rewards and recognition, that the startup has in its kitty are-
Awarded the ‘Startup of the Year’ at the Tiecon Awards in October 2018.
Won the ‘Most Innovative Travel Startup’ award at the Travel Tech Launchpad Summit organized by FICCI in March 2018.
The Google-BCG Travel Trends Report June 2017, called Pickyourtrail the benchmark in the industry for its comprehensive customer experience.
In October 2016, Pickyourtrail was recognized as the Aussie Specialist, mate!
In May 2016, Pickyourtrail got into the Top 10 travel innovators at the Phocuswright Asia-Pacific Travel Innovation Summit.
Pickyourtrail – Future Plans
For the next 2-3 years, the Pickyourtrail team will be broadly concentrating on
Acquiring more customers on the digital medium, and try and build its own digital acquisition channel.
Capturing the digital-first audience of tier 2 and tier 3 towns and become their first choice.
Beefing up the tech team and overall tech capabilities, to ensure that its product innovation efforts continue to be one of the best in the industry.
There is also a larger focus on taking the product global. End of the day there is a European going to the US or an Australian going to Bali and the product is suitable even for them, and the Pickyourtrail team wants to tap this huge global customer base.
“At our very heart, we want to create happiness and not sell packages. We aspire Pickyourtrail to be the go to platform for do it yourself vacations and unite like minded travelers” – Hari Ganapathy.
FAQs
What is the Pickyourtrail company?
Pickyourtrail is a platform founded in 2014, which enables the users to create, customise and book their vacations. The startup aims to remove all the pains associated with the planning of vacations for travelling enthusiasts and other individuals.
Who is the Pickyourtrail founder?
Hari Ganapathy, and Srinath Shankarnarayanan are the founders of Pickyourtrail.
What is the name of the Pickyourtrail CEO?
The Pickyourtrail CEO is not yet confirmed by the company but Pickyourtrail has many CEOs among its investors, including Girish Matrubootham, Kumar Vembu, Kunal Shah, Shyam Sekhar and others.
Where is the Pickyourtrail headquarters?
The Pickyourtrail headquarters are located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verifiedinformation ondifferent startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by ScoutMyTrip.
Road trips have a different charm altogether. Stopping by to click photos, trying local food on the way, and those endless chit-chats—what could be more endearing? The experience gets even better and hassle-free when there is proper guidance for making the most of one’s trip: what to see on the way, where to refuel, where the nearest viewpoint is, etc.
ScoutMyTrip, a Mumbai-based startup, is doing exactly this. The startup plans the nitty-gritty details of your road trip to make it a cherishable experience. Here’s all you need to know about ScoutMyTrip, its founders and team, startup story, business and revenue model, funding and investors, name, logo,, competitors, advisors, challenges, future plans, and more.
It is a road trip planner which conflates human intelligence with artificial intelligence to help plan the perfect road trip for individuals. ScoutMyTrip works for all sorts of outings, from short weekend travels to long excursions.
With artificial intelligence, customers can create an itinerary containing the information necessary for their road trip—gas stations, toilets, restaurants, hotels to stay in, and points of interest. The human intelligence aspect brings in the ability to personalize the information as per one’s needs.
ScoutMyTrip envisions making road trips the preferred means of vacation.
An industry first product has been introduced where a Scout (travel expert for the specific region) is virtually assisting the customer throughout the journey (before and during the trip). The Scouts give you the regional flavor and make one’s holiday joyous. We call this ‘Mark and Embark’! Our team is hard at work in building great tech and striving for customer delight each time.
ScoutMyTrip – Industry Details
As far as the market is concerned, the road-tripping industry is a subset of a much larger travel domain.
“Our total addressable market is pegged at $6.6B with 33 million leisure road trips in one calendar year. This is growing at a very fast rate and we expect it to double in 3 years time. Globally, this market stands at $100B which is really what we are after; but we want to establish ourselves well in the subcontinent which is why we have started operations in Nepal and Bhutan as well” says Vineet.
ScoutMyTrip – Founders And Team
Deepak Ananth and Vineet Rajan are the founders of ScoutMyTrip.
Deepak Ananth is the CEO and Co-founder of ScoutMyTrip. He is an Electronics graduate and had been in the corporate space for a really long time, his last assignment being with Verifone as a Director for South-East Asia. Ananth is also known as a storyteller, who loves to travel and sip on fine scotch and old monk. Ananth has a Royal Enfield 500cc bike, and his favorite trip is from Mumbai to Shillong and back.
Vineet Rajan
Vineet Rajan was the Co-founder and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of ScoutMyTrip. Vineet is a Computer Science graduate and has an MBA. Vineet has been involved with various startups throughout his career, and currently works as a Marketing Leader at SAP. After leaving ScoutMyTrip in April 2021 as an Advisor, Rajan joined Shop101 as the Head of Marketing Communications & Organic Growth. Vineet left the Co-founder position of the company in June 2020 and then remained an Advisor for the company before stepping down from that too.
Deepak and Vineet met each other during a road trip organized by a bikers’ club they were part of. They also held official positions in one of the most sought-after Royal Enfield groups. This gave them a chance to collaborate in non-professional capacities. Their thoughts resonated since both wanted to do something unique in the domain of road trips, thus deliberating over possible ideas in 2015.
In terms of workload, Deepak has been responsible for the overall strategy and public relations while Vineet looked into the marketing and sales segment. Soumen Bhowmick serves as the Head of Business Development.
Neeraj Sinha was the CTO and used to manage everything to do with tech. Neeraj Sinha worked at a prestigious company, with excellent remuneration and an experience worth mentioning, but he left all of it just because of his love for travelling, which was fulfilled when he joined ScoutMyTrip after working for around 14 years with the same organisation. Though his father was in the Railways, he had seen the real struggle, as per several interviews, where he stated that his father was left with hardly any money in the middle of the month. This was what drove him away from the government sector jobs, thereby placing him in the private sector. Neeraj started with some odd jobs like that of the EDP Operator but he eventually pursued an MCA degree from IGNOU, and then he never looked back. Sinha soon joined Sopra Steria, then known as Xansa, as a Software Engineer in 2002.
In 2015, we had started talking about putting our collective experience of road tripping so many kilometers into a tech product which can help other travelers. So a ‘road trip’ called ScoutMyTrip began! Building a work drives us – and that is the common area of interest for us. Our team sticks with us; because of the independence we give them in their working style. We measure results; and not the means.
ScoutMyTrip – Startup Story | How It Began?
Both Deepak and Vineet happen to be road trip aficionados. It was this love which inspired them to conceive ScoutMyTrip with a view to guide road-trippers on making the most out of leisurely travels.
We picked this idea because both of us love road trips. Having road tripped on the iconic Royal Enfield bikes in India with over 600,000 kilometers between us; we decided to build a solution that will help people road trip better. Because not everyone will have the knowledge of roads as we would do.
While maps have been the traditional go-to for navigational requirements, ScoutMyTrip is building a new category in road trip planning. The ideation process for ScoutMyTrip started back in late 2015.
ScoutMyTrip has been designed after taking suggestions from men and women consumed by wanderlust (not limited to bikers) and scouts to make the product more customer-centric. The product’s features are the results of the feedback from more than 500 fellow travelers and Scouts. The ScoutMyTrip team carried out a survey involving over 1000 people (including individuals not too inclined towards travelling) to cover every possible scenario. This is imperative given the dynamics of the decision-making process when it comes to travelling. The team also reached out to members of various travel clubs in India. The intimate discussions with these travel communities have been pivotal in onboarding travel experts for helping others.
Some of the first people we spoke to about ScoutMyTrip were all kicked. From investors, the biking community, travel forums and everyone around. We did, however, get a sense that we would have to establish ourselves very quickly; and hence we started seed funded the company in 2016.
Since the startup emphasized having seasoned travelers help plan trips, it wanted to have the essence of a ‘guide’ in its name. After much consideration, the name ScoutMyTrip was finalized for it captured this essence through ‘Scout’.
ScoutMyTrip Logo
The Logo shows an inverted magnifying glass and signifies a bird pecking when seen straight (birds usually symbolize freedom). The road in the center is symbolic of travelling. The three colors represent the brand’s values—community, safety and fun.
A lot of thought has gone into the logo. A good friend Kirtee understood our requirements and came up with that effective logo. We still sometimes joke about how much we troubled her for the logo but wherever we go, we get great feedback on the logo and that is always music to the ears of any founder.
ScoutMyTrip is a freemium product. Customer can sign up for free on the website and can plan their road trips using the planner for a lifetime. The planner allows the user to add 25-way points (Google allows you just 10) on their route. It suggests places to stay and eat, gas stations, and things to do—all under one platform.
Customers can choose to pay a premium in case they would like assistance with their planning. They are then assigned Scouts who help not just in building itineraries but also by providing virtual assistance throughout the trip.
ScoutMyTrip from the beginning has followed a very community-centric approach. Be it a community of travelers or that of Scouts. It’s always about the people with technology which revolves around it. Scouts are the key differentiator for us. We’re a marketplace of travel experts who curate the best on the road experiences.
ScoutMyTrip has partnered with travel experts and individuals from different parts of India. These skilled individuals know the local haunts, have adequate knowledge about different places to visit and are the best people to reach out to for a well-planned road trip. ScoutMyTrip has a reach all over India and also services Indian travelers visiting Nepal and Bhutan.
The company has scaled quite a few times – from being just another travel agency to doing marketing campaigns for travel brands and now fully focusing on helping people plan awesome road trips.
Itinerary Created by ScoutMyTrip
ScoutMyTrip – Revenue Model
ScoutMyTrip has a well-planned revenue model and earns revenue from the following sources:
Hiring a Scout: When a traveler contacts an expert (Scout), ScoutMyTrip earns a percentage of the planning fee. The rates vary from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 9000 and can go up to Rs. 50,000 for custom trips and itineraries.
Platform integrations: The planner can be integrated with other travel websites for a wholesome user experience.
Corporate tie-ups and group tours: ScoutMyTrip has been successfully doing this for more than a year now and has organized over 500 group road trips for individuals and corporate houses.
Road trip packages: Once the trips are planned, the ScoutMyTrip Experience team bundles the following as part of the package:
ScoutMyTrip raised seed funding from Z Nation Lab in April 2017.
Funding Date
Funding Stage
Funding Amount
Investors
April 2017
Angel Round
Undisclosed
Z Nation Lab
ScoutMyTrip – User Acquisition
ScoutMyTrip was launched for insider access or closed beta in October 2016. It got its first 5000 signups in one month and there has been no looking back ever since. ScoutMyTrip had incidentally launched its blog much before the website came into existence. This allowed the company to build communication with its target customers. Through its blogs, the team was able to expound the vision for its product to an eagerly awaiting consumer base.
Content marketing has been a driver for ScoutMyTrip. The company has approximately 90 % of its users coming through social media platforms powered by influencers already a part of the ScoutMyTrip community. Word of mouth publicity also has been a good contributor for ScoutMyTrip with around 10% of user acquisition from this stream.
The majority of spending by ScoutMyTrip in the marketing space are on Facebook and Instagram advertising. A lot more time is vested on SEO and building great content which markets itself.
ScoutMyTrip takes pride in being a content-driven brand and has taken ownership of three intellectual properties to keep in touch with its focus group—the travel enthusiasts.
The Great Indian Food Trip: The Great Indian Food Trip is an exploratory drive-by ScoutMyTrip through the hinterlands of India for rediscovering some of the most iconic and largely lost gems of Indian cuisine.
The Highest Blogger Meet: The idea here is to take influential bloggers from different walks of life to the highest motorable roads in the world. On those roads, ScoutMyTrip hosts a blogger meet, setting a record in terms of altitude each time. The last successful attempt was at Khardung La in partnership with OYO Rooms.
#AageSeRight: A viral sensation on Instagram that is common amongst road trippers. AageSeRight is a Hindi phrase used as a response when asking for directions; ScoutMyTrip was able to create a medium of brand recall through this hashtag.
Deepak and Vineet had the most modest upbringing, belonging to middle-class Indian families. Deepak had been working in corporate roles (at senior positions in reputed companies) for over 20 years before ScoutMyTrip. Vineet had an entrepreneurial mindset throughout his career but his only brush was by being a member of an established startup. As a result, launching a startup was no less than a challenge due to lack of prior experience as told by Vineet.
Whether such a platform would find a place and apprehensions about them treading the right path plagued the founders in the initial phase.
Our families were very supportive. Parents who heard us out asked the right questions and then wholeheartedly supported us, spouses who stood by us, ready to fight the same battles along with us, helped to make our minds up, much easier.
ScoutMyTrip – Competitors
As Vineet says, the biggest competitors are the airlines and railways, which make up for over 80% of all travel spends in India. Google Maps is a formidable opponent given its reach and popularity when it comes to navigation.
Globally, ScoutMyTrip faces resistance from Road Trippers and Furkot, which are slowly building their presence in India. Desi competitors include Easy Roads and Highway Delite. However, the highly experienced Scouts associated with ScoutMyTrip are its USP and the major differentiator from its competitors.
We are different in terms of us being a very community driven space where our Scouts are the USP to ScoutMyTrip. We encourage road trips for everyone and plan it keeping in mind the likes of our customers.
ScoutMyTrip – Advisors And Mentors
ScoutMyTrip’s investor, Z Nation Labs, is also its primary mentor.
We get great support, industry connects and advice from the leadership team of Z Nation labs which includes Amit Jain, Anup Mehta and Neha Jain.
After being incubated by NASSCOM’s 10,000 Startups initiative and the Maharashtra State Innovation Society, ScoutMyTrip is getting regular support from its team as well.
ScoutMyTrip – Awards
ScoutMyTrip has had its fair share of recognition including the recent incubation by NASSCOM’s 10,000 startups initiative. The honors bestowed on ScoutMyTrip in 2019 are:
April 2019 – Selected as one of the Top Startups by NASSCOM as part of the 10,000 Startups Program.
March 2019 – Recognized by Startup India / DIPP.
February 2019 –Winners of the Maharashtra Startup Week by the Govt. of Maharashtra.
January 2019 – Entrepreneur India listed ScoutMyTrip as the top 50 startups to watch out for in 2019.
July 2019 – ScoutMyTrip won the Conquest 2019 startup challenge by BITS Pilani which opened new doors in terms of partnerships and investor connections.
August 2019 – ScoutMyTrip was invited by DIGITARAYA x tiket.com accelerator programme for expansion into SE Asia.
ScoutMyTrip Founders Receiving Award at Maharashtra Startup Week
Earlier Awards include being chosen as one of the top 20 travel tech startups by FICCI in 2017, Top 10 startups in India (Silicon India), and many more.
ScoutMyTrip – Future Plans
ScoutMyTrip has received a positive response from the traveler community; it has partnered with reputed brands to maintain the flow. Over the last two years, ScoutMyTrip has been aggressively improving its Scout and agent network to service the ever-increasing customer requirements. The company’s business partners include Treebo Hotels, OYO, Agoda, Booking.com, MyChoize self-drive cars, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Honda Cars India to name a few.
Over the next 1-2 years, ScoutMytrip is looking at consolidating the Indian market where there is a churn in the making as observed by its team.
For its long-term vision, ScoutMyTrip aspires to be present in every aspect of a road trip. The ScoutMyTrip team has christened this plan as ‘Dashboard to Dhabha’, where the idea is to integrate ScoutMyTrip into cars to make it easier for car owners to conceive a journey. This comprises showing recommendations of other roadtrippers, real and live assistance from Scouts all over the country, detours to explore the countryside, and other provisions. This shall enable ScoutMyTrip to create an extensive database which would then be used to provide up to date, real-time information in assisting holidaymakers.
After spending a week in Indonesia understanding the travel and tourism industry, the co-founders are considering expansion into a new market next year. They are in discussions with partners to venture into the SE Asian markets and provide a full suite of services not limited to hotels, flights, and last mile connectivity for trips.
It is hard to navigate through the maze and there is a long way before we as a country make it simpler for startups. And advice is not easy to come by, we had to learn a lot of it ourselves- Vineet Raja
Deepak Ananth and Vineet Rajan were the founders of ScoutMyTrip. Rajan left the company in 2021.
What is ScoutMyTrip?
It is an Indias trip planner, which conflates human intelligence with artificial intelligence to help plan the perfect road trip for individuals. ScoutMyTrip works for all sorts of outings, from short weekend travels to long excursions.
What is ScoutMyTrip Business Model?
ScoutMyTrip is a freemium product. Here, the customers can sign up for free on the website and can plan their road trips using the planner for a lifetime. The planner allows the user to add 25-way points (Google allows you just 10) on their route. It suggests places to stay and eat, gas stations, and things to do—all under one platform.
A traveller, a tourist and a first-time backpacker. These three have something in common despite their differences in experience. They all want a peaceful night to stay after having a long walk to someone’s dream place or to a normal visit or a trip. The business of giving people home or a place to stay dates back to AD 707.
The hospitality business is one of the indestructible industries wherein famous chains have generations of families leading, in particular, the empire built by people through hospitality. Hotels are the face of this industry. There are buildings that provide people with a place to stay with the utmost comfort. They make people feel cosy in corners not owned by them, yet have rights over them.
Thehotel industry was once owned by the owners with no regulatory bodies on the top of their heads. They had their own business model. But the new generation turned the system into a marketplace that involved filters of the various layers. The whole system was immediately converted into a well-oiled machine. A new system that sided with the huge Indian population.
This huge system turnover was brought by a 22-year-old Indian Boy named Ritesh Agarwal.
The Tourism and Hotel Industry in India is one of the main drivers of growth among the services sector of the country. The tourism industry in India has significant potential as it has rich & diverse culture, historical heritage, a vast range of ecology, and flora and fauna. Indian is known for its geographical diversity, attractive beaches throughout the coastline, 27 world heritage sites, 10 biogeographic zones, 80 national parks and more than 441 sanctuaries.
According to reports, over 39 million jobs were created in the tourism sector which equates to over 8% of the total employment in India. By 2029, the country’s tourism sector is expected to grow 6.7% to reach $488 billion, which will account for 9.2% of the country total economy. The industry has slowed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, as the country had many lockdowns and restrictions on travel.
As per the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI), the Indian hotel industry had a loss of approximately $17.82 billion in revenue due to the ongoing pandemic. Despite taking a hit, the industry is looking to come back up with the help of schemes and opportunities provided by the government. The Indian Government is providing free loans to the MSMEs to help them deal with the crisis and revive the tourism sector.
It is also planning to tap into a staycation, which is an emerging trend where people stay at luxurious hotels to revive themselves of stress in a peaceful getaway. With many upcoming developments, the international tourist arrivals are expected to reach 30.5 billion and generate revenue of over $59 billion by 2028. OYO and Airbnb have in many ways helped the industry grow especially in 2020 and 2021, as domestic tourists are expected to drive the growth post-pandemic.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Experience in Industry
Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO of OYO Rooms
When it comes to trust, experienced companies are trusted more.
Ritesh Agarwal, the founder of OYO, formed the most famous chain of leased and franchised hotel chains. We Indians often refer to it as a place to look for the best deals for hotels, The Oyo Rooms. Oyo Rooms started 7 years ago with a bunch of hotels. The company has now expanded globally with thousands of hotels and vacation homes. Oyo Rooms was started in the year 2013.
Ritesh is the second youngest self-made billionaire in the world.
Airbnb’s Founders
Airbnb was conceived years ago by two roommates who rented out an air mattress in their living room. This turned their whole apartment into a bed and breakfast. This was done to sustain the high-priced living in San Francisco. This gave the company its name Airbedandbreakfast. Airbnb was started in 2008.
So the winner here is, Airbnb, which has a lot of experience.
Both the companies share a common goal, i.e. to provide accommodations, a safe place and comfortable corners to people. Yet both the companies have a very different working business model.
Oyo is often believed to be India’s answer to Airbnb. This article will take you through the different business models and things that are uncommon between the two companies.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Front-end
OYO Rooms
OYO, as people know, is a website where one can go through various filters and find a hotel. But this is the front-end of how the Oyo company is. Oyo is a marketplace for only hotels.
Airbnb
However, Airbnb is a marketplace that helps a traveller find an abode of his type. It can be for lodging, primarily homestays and homestays. It also lets the provider of the property fix a price. This helps both sides as well as Airbnb. The company has recently started offering experiences too.
This shows a more varied and real-world applied concept. So, Airbnb has a better front-end.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Places to Stay
OYO Online Booking
Oyo used to get hotels and book a majority of the rooms for a definite time. It then standardizes the room according to the Oyo standards. Later, list the hotels on its website with huge and heavy discounts. The whole business model used to work by acquiring clusters of hotels for a definite time. Standardizing them and making them proper before listing.
Airbnb Online Booking
Airbnb is based on the sharing economy. It makes owners share the property or rooms they own with travellers who in turn share money with the owners. It is believed to be the most successful business that works on sharing economy. A two-faced system that works for the public.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Stay Duration
Oyo works on hotel stays, so an individual can stay there for a good amount of time. Oyo rooms have no particular rule about leaving a room after a set date. The whole system is similar to how one can stay in a hotel. But in Airbnb, there is a 90-day rule. This rule was introduced in 2017. This rule is only for areas in London. The listings in that area cannot be occupied for more than 90 days.
This makes Airbnb not suitable for very long.
Oyo had 5,855 hotels in its network in the year 2016 with an inventory of over 68 thousand rooms. If compared to today it has a portfolio of more than 35 thousand hotels and 125 thousand vacation homes. It has over 1.2 million rooms across 80 countries and 800 cities.
But, the founder and CEO of Oyo – Ritesh Agarwal made an announcement in the year 2017 that the company had evolved its Oyo business model to 100% franchise, managing, or operating. He also mentioned that his company would no longer go for hotel aggregation and will shift towards becoming a proper full-scale hospitality company. The CEO stated that this change in business model will reduce operational costs. Hence, improve service.
Oyo changed its business model to the Franchise model in the year 2017. The company earlier used to take up some rooms on lease and would sell them to customers. This model involves partnering with many hotels and asking them to operate as a franchise. Then selling their rooms to all the customers at competitive prices.
Airbnb, known for not owning any of the properties. Yet known for having a business that does work on providing shelter. All the company does is providing a platform. A platform on which all the people can rent out properties they own or spare rooms to guests. The property prices are set by the owner themselves. But the company intervenes when it comes to the collection of money.
The Business model of Airbnb is a multi-sided marketplace that connects all the travellers with the host and experience providers. The company makes money from the fees that come from bookings from stays and experiences. Airbnb’s model is exponential when it comes to growth.
Airbnb has a better business model in terms of customer comfort and reach.
Airbnb’s business model is quite simple yet very innovative which often dubs it as the world’s fastest-growing travel site.
Oyo charges around 22% of commissions. This has to be paid every month by the hotels’ owners. However, commissions may vary as per the services and features offered. Oyo also charges a commission out of the room reservation fee according to their services chosen.
Airbnb makes all the money through commissions. It charges a 3% commission on every booking from hosts and between 6 – 12% from guests. Unlike Oyo, Airbnb takes reviews and feedback from both ends. Be it the host or the guest, this makes it a proper marketplace.
Airbnb seems to have an upper hand at everything, making it a proper place to visit before actually vising one.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a tool that lets a company store customer and prospect contact information. It also helps the company identify sales opportunities, record service issues, and manage marketing campaigns. Depending on what type of CRM a company has, they can get basic information about their prospective customer and interact with them. CRM helps the company in better analyzing and understanding their customers, which will help them offer better and more efficient customer service. Airbnb and OYO have very different CRM strategies.
CRM of OYO
The CRM that OYO uses is Blueshifts Programmatic CRM, which has helped the company to become a leader in 1:1 customer engagement across all marketing channels. With Blueshift’s precise recommendations and targeted triggers, OYO has been able to achieve 5X higher bookings from email and mobile channels. The company also has a mobile-first approach which has helped it to expand in over 500 cities across ten countries.
CRM of Airbnb
The CRM that Airbnb uses is Twilio, which helps connect with hosts. How it works is, when a traveller makes a reservation through Airbnb, the host has 32 hours to respond to a booking request and this is possible because of its CRM. There is systematic mobile communication between hosts and travellers using a text message. The host can also decide whether they want to accept or deny the customer. The company also uses Hootsuite social media management, which helps them monitor their follower’s growth and social CRM. The system also helps the company to find certain keywords that can eventually be used in campaigns.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Marketing Strategy
OYO – Marketing Strategy
Oyo is known to use the 360-degree marketing method as it implies having a presence on all forms of digital and traditional media. They also have their unique room strategy which helps in attracting more customers with lower room prices in comparison to the base price of the hotel. Besides that OYO has made many successful multimedia marketing campaigns such as #AurKyaChahiye. It also shares location-based posts, promotional posts, which helps people to browse destinations to travel, check for new offers & discounts and encourage them to book OYO.
Airbnb – Marketing Strategy
Airbnb on the other hand uses the marketing approach to building and maintaining a strong community among its users. It also mainly targets long term loyalty from both the guests and hosts. The main marketing strategy of the company is to take your business in front of your potential guest and turn them into bookers. The customers who previously enjoyed their stay with Airbnb places are sent an email encouraging them to list their own property. Airbnb India aims to make its guests feel welcome, its app did the same, as it has a unified interface on Android and iOS platforms.
OYO Vs Airbnb – Social Media
OYO on Social Media
Over the years the company has leveraged the power of social media as it has been able to retain its ranking and stay ahead of OYO competitors in the market. OYO currently has over 169k followers on Instagram and 65.4k followers on Twitter, with actor Sonu Sood as its current brand ambassador. On all the social media platforms, the company promotes itself as being a brand that offers two types of services which are promoting tourist spaces and a safe space to spend time with your loved ones in your own city. OYO also uploads many ad campaigns like ‘Fir Badhega India’ and ‘Sanitised Stays’ that helps in engaging with their customers especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Airbnb on Social Media
Airbnb has a different approach to social media marketing as it heavily relies on awareness generating strategy. The company also uses travel influencers to further promote the platform as it does its social media relies on user-generated content (UGC). So far the company has over 4.9 million followers on Instagram and 733k followers on Twitter. It also has over 6.3 million photos using #airbnb on Instagram which shows us how widespread the company is. Airbnb also heavily invests in video marketing as a part of telling its brand story, it currently has more than 500 videos generating over 100 million views on YouTube.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, Airbnb and Oyo share the same kind of services, i.e. hospitality service. Moreover, Airbnb is a website for people to list, find and rent lodging whereas Oyo is a chain of budget and premium rooms partnering with different hotels. Oyo is all about providing a customer experience within a stipulated budget range while Airbnb doesn’t control the customer experience as such.
FAQs
What is the difference between Airbnb and Oyo?
OYO has more hotel rooms whereas Airbnb has more residential plots. In Airbnb, the apartment may have been misinterpreted, not so in the case of OYO as an audit is done every week.
Are OYO Rooms similar to Airbnb?
OYO’s business model is kind of similar to that of Airbnb, i.e. they are an online aggregator of budget hotels. Bookings for these rooms would be made via the website and the mobile app of OYO Rooms. However, the main focus is always is the quality of service provided.
How to give your property to OYO Rooms?
For OYO Rooms registration, you can write an email to partner@oyorooms.com or give a call to this number +91 70530 70530.
Is OYO successful?
OYO Rooms has been one of the most successful startups in India being the country’s largest budget hotel chain. It focuses on standardizing the hotels in the non-branded hospitality sector.
Is Airbnb better than Oyo?
OYO is better in terms of privacy and security. OYO assures quality service while Airbnb doesn’t guarantee anything from their end.
Travelling is a basic necessity for all of us today. Everyone, from children to the elderly, travel places every day. The objective is distinct from the desire for fulfilment. There are a variety of types of transportation available, including planes and vehicles. However, for many people, the bus is still the most common mode of transportation.
Booking tickets provides passengers with a unique experience because it is a simple and effective way to purchase a ticket. Bus ticket bookings have increased in tandem with railway and aircraft ticket purchases. There are already a lot of companies that offer online bus ticket booking.
RedBus, on the other hand, was the first and is currently one of the most popular bus ticket purchasing platforms. Redbus was founded by Phanindra Sama, Chandran Padmarauju, and Sudhakar Pasupunuri. These engineers were from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science. In this article, learn more about Phanindra Sama.
Phanindra Sama is a famous name that wasn’t well-known but is recognised in South India as a young Web entrepreneur. Every kid should be inspired by his journey. His experience as a web entrepreneur is unparalleled. He was an average employee ten years ago, but an idea born out of difficulty has set him apart from the group.
Phanindra Samma was born in the small village Tadapaikal of Nizamabad district in India. He lost his dad at an age where he could not understand why things were happening. This is the major incident in Phanindra that shook his childhood.
Phanindra Sama – Education
For his 10th and +2 years, Phanindra relocated to his Uncle’s residence in Hyderabad. He was an exceptional student in his academics. He received an average of 80% in SSC and 97 percent in Intermediate. He was accepted into BITS PILNI in the Electronics Engineering track based on his Intermediate grades.
In BITS, he has had to deal with a lot of problems. He exhibited leadership characteristics, and as a result, he was named team leader of the photography club at BITS University. At the time, his classmates and fellow students were awestruck by his extraordinary leadership abilities.
He has attended Stanford University for the Field Of Study Economics, Social Psychology in 2016 in Kings College London. He also went to the Swedish Institute for Field Of Study Responsible Leadership and Sustainable Business Practices. He got a Chevening Standard Chartered Financial Services Fellowship from King’s College London.
Phanindra Sama – The RedBus Journey
In 2005-06, Phanindra Sama used to travel by bus very frequently. He wanted to travel to his family but He was late for a bus one day when the idea for RedBus came to him. He discovered a solution to the problem, and as a consequence, Redbus was formed.
Phanindra Sama considers himself an entrepreneur by chance. He began his career as a Design Engineer at ST Microelectronics, and two years later, he transferred to Texas Instruments as a Senior Design Engineer.
From his unfortunate experience of missing a bus one day while working at Texas Instruments, he saw the need for an online bus ticket-buying platform. Soon after, he began putting his plans into action, founding India’s most popular and extensive online bus ticket-buying platform, RedBus, and working as the Chief Executing Officer of his own firm (CEO).
Phanindra Sama founded RedBus with his two friends Charan Padmaraju and Sudhakar Pasupunur in 2006. They failed to raise any funds at the start but later Venture capitalists started approaching them. They received their first seed funding from the ‘Seed Fund’ and built the company and scaled it to huge heights. The company was at the peak of its success when the Ibibo group acquired Redbus.
Following that, Phanindra Sama left the firm. He was employed as Chief Innovation Officer with the Government of Telangana. Sama is now an advisor at West Bridge Capital. He is also an angel investor, investing in tiny businesses that he believes in.
Phanindra Sama’s net worth is estimated to be over $12 million, according to reports.
Phanindra Sama – Investments
Date
Organization Name
Funding Round
Money Raised
Oct 27, 2021
Stoa School
Seed Round
₹110M
Jul 19, 2021
Eka Care
Seed Round
$4.5M
Nov 27, 2020
Kagaaz Scanner
Seed Round
575k
Oct 13, 2020
Tread
Pre-Seed Round
$1.1M
Oct 1, 2020
QuestBook
Pre-Seed Round
$625k
Mar 8, 2020
AirMeet
Seed Round
$3M
Jan 8, 2020
RheoTV
Seed Round
$2M
Jul 15, 2019
Jiny.io
Seed Round
$725k
Mar 21, 2018
OpenTalk
Seed Round
–
Feb 13, 2017
Flyle
Seed Round
$400k
Phanindra Sama – Personal Life
Having a love life while attempting to create a business, Phanindra Sama confesses, is quite challenging. When Phanindra Sama was busy aggregating bus services all the time, he didn’t have time for dating. Phanindra Sama’s interactions were mostly limited to his stakeholders, and he didn’t have a girlfriend.
Phanindra Sama did an arranged marriage. The date of Phanindra Sama’s wedding was determined by his parents, and the identity of Phanindra Sama’s wife has not been revealed to the public.
The wife of Phanindra Sama is a very quiet woman who very occasionally attends events with his husband. She is kind of a life at home mother who is concerned for her children and their growth. Phanindra Sama stated unequivocally that he sold his firm for a variety of reasons, one of which was to give his daughter and his wife more time.
Phanindra Sama built a thriving business and transformed the bus ticket booking system in our country. Phanindra Sama has now continued to fund new startups, as an angel investor. The nicest part about his newly created site is that he did not start it as a business. He merely intended to find a solution and assist everyone who was experiencing the same difficulties he had.
For a few years, Phanindra and his wonderful pals worked really hard because their efforts were not recognised by others who had worked in the tourism sector for many years. Nothing, however, could persuade Phanindra to abandon his plan, and this is what contributed to his triumph.
Phanindra Sama – FAQ
Who is Phanindra Sama?
Phanindra Sama is an entrepreneur and the founder and former CEO of RedBus.in & Pilani Soft Labs Pvt Ltd.
What is the net worth of Phanindra Sama?
Phanindra Sama’s net worth is estimated to be over $12 million, according to reports.
When it comes to tour and tourism, MakeMyTrip holds a leading position in the market. The very popular Indian travel company, MakeMyTrip, launched in the year 2000. Ever wondered how this company makes money? Or how its business model is designed? Well, in most simple words, the business model of MakeMyTrip entirely revolves around the online travel services it offers.
MakeMyTrip provides the facility of booking tickets for holidays, flights, busses, cars and trains. This travel company has made booking tickets very convenient for Indians. Also, it has improvised the travel conditions and arrangements in India.
In this article, we have discussed the business model of this amazing travel company- MakeMyTrip and how it makes money. So, let’s get started!
MakeMyTrip is a very famous Indian travel company, established in 2000. The company provides some very amazing online travel services and offers. With MakeMyTrip, you can book tickets for flights, hotels, buses and many more.
This famous travel company was founded by Deep Kalra. The company directly communicates with the customers through its verified online platform and deals with all customers’ concerns related to travelling. In other words, MakeMyTrip is the perfect guide for you to plan your vacation.
MakeMyTrip owns around 30+ franchised stores along with 14 different stores across 28 cities. In the year 2012, the company developed and launched its mobile application for its customers that provides over 10 lakh routes all around India. MakeMyTrip has made travelling super cool and convenient for the Indians by helping them in all aspects of travel requirements.
Key services of MakeMyTrip
MakeMyTrip provides various beneficiary services for its customers. Some of them are booking tickets for any sort of travel media such as flights, trains, buses or many others. Besides this, booking tickets for hotels, hire cars, and holiday packages, etc.
Apart from this, there are many third-party services also available such as travel insurance, Visa and many others, especially for travelling in any other country.
There isn’t any specific group that MakeMyTrip separately focuses on. The travel company focuses on different groups with different specifications and segments. It attracts all kinds of age groups and genders. Although the company does prefer customers who have a vivid connection with the internet.
Where does MakeMyTrip operate?
MakeMyTrip is an India-based travel company but the company has expanded itself into foreign countries as well such as America, UAE and many others. MakeMyTrip has well-functioning offices in New York, Bangkok, Dubai, Kaula, Singapore, Phuket and many others.
Business Model of MakeMyTrip
The business model of MakeMyTrip is very strategic and mainly based on customer service. MakeMyTrip provides the audience with great offerings and also, facility to book tickets.
India, being the fastest-growing digital travel agency that basically benefits brands like MakeMyTrip in making them a strong contender in the global market. And for this, their business model entirely strategies the marketing, price, name, promotion and location. The company provides satisfaction to its customers through its amazing customer-centric services.
Apart from this, MakeMyTrip provides its services at affordable pricing rates. MakeMyTrip provides an e-marketplace that is basically available for a huge range of audiences across the world.
The company promotes its services and offerings through electronic banners on television commercials, websites and various other channels. Also, it promotes through offline retail stores.
Today, MakeMyTrip has become an elite brand and has great strategic planning including various marketing schemes and campaigns.
What is unique about the business model of MakeMyTrip
MakeMyTrip is way beyond just creating the most amazing experience for customers. In the competitive marketplace, MakeMyTrip offers the facility of customer testimonials that give strong feedback on the company’s customer service managers. And the great customers’ experience is what favours the company most.
In addition to this, MakeMyTrip works on various tactics and technologies to improvise its products and services. This brings out a great additional advantage to the company, especially over its audience. Along with this, MakeMyTrip provides an advanced place to its retail stores for showing the company’s products.
MakeMyTrip has its major revenue source from the fee it charges over the online bookings. Although the company provides the most affordable flight tickets, that’s what attracts the customers more. They do this by purchasing the tickets from the private airlines by a huge number and they then reduce the charge and sell these tickets to the customers and earn a good extra commission fee.
MakeMyTrip earns huge profit through the flight tickets but as there aren’t many options available with the trains that’s why they did not offer this service over train tickets. The company has over 5000 to 10,000 registered hotels and around 1000 registered busses.
Apart from this, the major source of revenue is from marketing of various companies like Tata, Kingfisher, SpiceJet and many others. They also earn revenue by advertising holiday packages of various hotels on their website.
Conclusion
MakeMyTrip is known as the leader in the travel market in India. The company follows the Business-to-consumer digital business model. It is amazing with its services and products, both online and offline platforms. The travel market in India has grown at the rate of 40% and a huge market share is taken by MakeMyTrip.
This clearly shows that the company has its marketing strategies very effective and efficient. MakeMyTrip earns a good amount of revenue and has a strong marketing position. Stay tuned for more content!
FAQ
Who is the founder of MakeMyTrip?
MakeMyTrip was founded by Deep Kalra in 2000.
What is the revenue of MakeMyTrip?
The revenue of MakeMyTrip was 163 million U.S. dollars as of 2020.
Who are the competitors of MakeMyTrip?
MakeMyTrip’s top competitors include Flight Centre Travel Group, Treebo, TravelTriangle, Yatra and ClearTrip.
Covid-19 has completely disrupted the Travel and Tourism Industry at both the national and international levels. With the worldwide lockdown and the heavy travel restrictions, the industry has lost not only domestic and international tourists but also local visitors. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), International tourism has witnessed a loss of $1.3 trillion in 2020 while the Indian tourism industry saw a revenue loss of ₹1.25 trillion, as per the CARE Rating study.
The pandemic has impacted all divisions of the tourism industry such as inbound, outbound, corporate, MICE, adventure, and leisure and will continue to underperform for the next two quarters. Tourism will account for 9.9% of the country’s GDP by the end of this decade with the help of Government initiatives.
The losses to the Indian Tourism Industry in 2020 have been huge but 2021 shows the revival of travel with the rise in vaccination. Significant changes were observed in traveling like more emphasis given to safety, cleanliness, and hygiene. The states that are getting the maximum tourists are Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Goa, and Kerala.
Ever since the Covid-19 Pandemic had arrived, the tourism industry started evolving and changing ways in order to suit the needs of travelers. With the reduction in Covid cases in India, theCentral and State Governments of the respective states have issued many standards and basic operating procedures in order to resume services. Major protocols are being taken as the security scan at the entrances of various locations like hotels and airlines involving thermal screening and sanitization and the staff is even extra cautious than before.
The Post-Covid Scenario of Tourism Industry
Many countries around the world are catching up with innovative solutions and activities to boost their country’s travel industry. Some of them include safe travel bubbles, SG Clean, Qatar Clean initiatives. Many travel agencies are now providing incentives, offers, and discounts to get people to travel. Understanding the solutions and practices being followed in different countries will help India in implementing the right strategies for the survival and revival of its tourism industry.
Many services have turned contactless and are following all major protocols of safety and social distancing. Simpler activities like live cooking, disposable cutlery, online food delivery services, and digital menus aids in the growth of the industry. The hotel, restaurants and resorts are following strict SOPs for Covid-19 to create a protective environment. The government is also providing relaxation against free loans, provident fund relief, and GST.
The relaxation in the lockdown along with the gradual lifting of travel restrictions shows constant opening and closing of travel make tourists feel uncomfortable to travel internationally. But 2021 saw an increase in domestic tourism, while foreign tourism is expected to remain low until the situation improves. One of the main reasons for the future boom in the domestic sector is that travelers in 2021 prefer to explore their own country and go on short weekend trips.
Here’s a look at the most affected sectors of tourism due to pandemic
Hence, increases the sightseeing of remote destinations and helps the locals to get their livelihood back. This, in turn, boosts the local economy, creates more jobs, and helps the hotels and restaurants of the region, promotes local art handicrafts and culture. With more importance given to safety and social distancing, tourists think that it is safer to travel shorter distances than compared to the longer ones. This is why many people are opting for short road trips to unknown destinations with less crowd.
The domestic vacation is now on top of the traveler’s bucket list for 2021. Just the first week of January 2021 saw 70% of users booking for future domestic trips on Tripadvisor. In the US, over 74% of travelers preferred to go on an overnight domestic leisure trip in 2021, and over 34% are planning domestic trips, which is quite high as compared to other countries like Australia (31%) and UK (24%).
So let’s take a look at the 2021 travel industry’s trends that are likely to show up in the future.
Travel Industry Trends in 2021
Workation Trips to Increase
Work plus vacation or business plus travel is not a new concept that has arrived in 2021. But the business travelers are said to be rising in 2021 because many companies are opting to work from anywhere culture. This is why they have come up with brilliant travel plans that will help employees work along with leisure. Employees also have the option to bring their family members. The concept of business travel is getting popular as people have started to realize that all people need is electricity and a good internet connection to work.
Work plus vacation has become a latest trend now
Road Trips are the New Trend
With many restrictions and travel bans, people have started opting for short road trips. Many tourists have started avoiding public transport like buses, trains or even airlines. Instead, they plan to go on road trips in their own vehicles or rent a car, as it is a safer option. Road trips are popular among tourists of all age groups and families. In addition to that, it reduces the travel expenses and vast options of destination to choose from.
Road Trips, a budget-friendly option for travelers to travel around the city
Promotion of Sustainable/Eco-Friendly Tourism
The pandemic has made people realize the importance of implementing sustainable ways of traveling. The tourist now is looking out for eco-tourism to get in touch with nature. In 2021, tourist focuses on responsible travel to remote locations or natural areas in order to experience the local culture and contribute towards the sustainable growth of environment. Tourists have become more conscious nowadays and are accepting more eco-friendly methods to reduce their carbon footprint.
Sustainable Tourism has become traveler’s best choice for embracing the nature
Travelers are keen on researching more before making any travel plans. With Covid-19, it’s no surprise that people are more conscious to travel. According to a survey, more than 74% of the global tourist population say that they will spend more time researching everything about their destination. People are spending more time in reading reviews or checking for better accommodations before planning any itinerary.
Post-vaccinations Impact on Travel
With the rise in vaccination drive, the travel industry has started blooming. People have started planning their trips as they’re excited to finally be able to travel carefree. The new travel protocols, however, will include compliances for travelers including Immunity passports for tourists to provide proof that the tourists are vaccinated for the virus. More than 77% of global travelers likely to agree to travel internationally only after getting vaccinated.
Why Travelling Will Never Be The Same
Solo Travel is the Way
Solo travel or even backpacking has grown exponentially with the pandemic. Co-living is also another new trend related to solo traveling. It is when solo travelers are looking to save money and time by getting out of their comfort zone and meeting other solo travelers while traveling. Solo travelers involves themselves in activities that includes social distancing.
Solo Travel has become a new travel industry trend
Safety and Cleanliness are the Priority
Safety and cleanliness have become priority for travelers across the globe since Covid. And the travel industry is already implementing major guidelines and protocols including PCR tests on arrival, mandatory masks, sanitation, and frequent cleaning in different sectors like hotels, airports, restaurants, etc. to provide a safe environment.
Many experts in the field have given their recommendations on how to get the industry back on track. Some of them include:
Airlines, hotels, restaurants, and other tourist operators can adopt greener and eco-friendly solutions in order to increase their business while being sustainable.
The industry must encourage renewable energy and green project to help the environment.
The government must try helping the industry with interest-free loans for up to 5 years which makes it sustainable.
Implement compulsory masks everywhere and basic social distancing laws and regulations.
Promote lesser-known tourist destinations of India.
Make it easier for the tourist sectors to get licenses, permits, and renewal.
Reduction of GST rates in the travel and hospitality sector.
FAQs on Travel & Tourism Industry
What are the top travel industry trends in 2021?
The top travel industry trends in 2021 are:
Workation Trips to Increase
Road Trips are the New Trend
Promotion of Sustainable/Eco-Friendly Tourism
Research Before Travel
Post-vaccinations Impact on Travel
Solo Travel is the Way
Safety and Cleanliness are the Priority
Which one sector is going to see a rise in tourism in 2021?
2020 has completely disrupted the travel industry but 2021 is showing the revival of travel. The tourism sector will be very different than what it was before. The domestic sector is witnessing a surge as people are avoiding foreign travel and the situation is going to remain the same till the pandemic is over.
What are the SOPs followed by the tourism industry in India?
The SOPs followed by the tourism industry in India are security scans at the entrances of various locations like hotels and airlines involving thermal screening, wearing masks, sanitization, and social distancing.
What is the fastest-growing trend in the travel industry?
Eco-friendly/Sustainable tourism is one of the fastest-growing trends in the travel industry.
Is the travel industry growing?
The travel industry will slowly and gradually see a surge in the traveler once the pandemic is over. Currently, domestic tourism is growing at a slower pace. The reason being, people are feeling bored to remain at one place and therefore planning short trips.
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There is a breed of travelers, who hates the one size fits all travel packages. Those, who want to explore places at their own pace, rather than rushing through the hyped sites of a destination. For those who prefer their holidays to be planned with a personal touch over any auto-generated itinerary, there is Ithaka. This Mumbai based platform plans your trips just the way it fits you best with the assistance from experienced travelers.
Know more about Ithaka Startup Story, Founders, Business Model, Funding etc., in the article ahead.
Ithaka was launched as an in-destination experience booking website. Today Ithaka is a chat-based travel planning app, that covers destinations from Thailand, Bali, Europe, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia and Turkey. The Ithaka app is available for both Android and iOS.
Our vision is to build a seamless ecosystem for travel. We want to take ownership of your travel experience from the first spark of inspiration, to the very last day of your trip, we want to stay involved, keep it personal and help you every step of the way.
Ithaka is a free travel planning platform focused on travelers who want to plan and execute their own trips and don’t want to book a pre-made package.
Ithaka is helping travelers through the 3 most important parts of trip planning:
a. Discovery – Through product features that mirror users’ behavior online (first shortlist by a visual stimulus, matching by preferences, etc)
b. Decision Making – Driven by influencers and a smart product which understands ‘good travel choices’ (anchors, time to catch transport, is the trip rushed, etc)
c. Trip Management – Beautiful, detailed itinerary which can be booked in part or full with a single click in-app with real-time costing
On Ithaka, you would connect over chat with a Travel Influencer who’s been there done that. You can seek validation around your ideas and find all the answers you seek or if you are someone who is too busy to plan the trip you could get your whole itinerary planned to the very minute details. The Influencer and the product help you structure the whole trip plan and gives you detailed information that will ensure a smooth travel experience.
Along with that, you can do all your bookings (flights, hotels, activities, visa, forex) through the app as well, ensuring you are sorted end to end.
We believe that travel is the best way to break down barriers between people. If we can help more people travel to newer places and experience them well, we would have played our part in moving the world towards a more unified, harmonious future, and that’s a vision worthy of anyone’s life’s work. There is a need for one product to be the anchor app of their trip. Ithaka is trying to do just that and define how the next generation of travel looks like.
Ithaka has pivoted twice–
From the experiences booking platform to chat based travel planning in 2015.
In 2018 the company pivoted from in-house travel experts to a community of Travel Influencers to help people plan trips. This shift allowed Ithaka to be more scalable.
Travel Market in India
According to UNWTO, the Indian outbound travel market is going to grow to 50 million travelers by 2020. Out of this, the leisure travel market is 30%. Ithaka is catering to the Indian Millennial travel audience which is around 5 million travelers by 2020. The average spends by an Indian traveler on an outbound trip is about $800. The rough market size Ithaka is dealing in is $4 billion right now.
Travel is going to change fundamentally in the next 5 years as a new batch of youngsters enter the job market and have the disposable income to go out and explore the world. Their needs and ambitions while traveling are going to be quite different than what we see now. The overall market will keep increasing. Many profitable businesses can emerge in the thriving travel market in India.
Ithaka Services
Founders of Ithaka and Team
Rahul Singh and Mithilesh Said are the founders of Ithaka.
Rahul Singh and Mithilesh Said – Founder, Ithaka
Rahul Singh is the CEO of Ithaka. He is an IIT Bombay, 2012 grad. He worked at Gulf Talent, a Dubai based market leader job portal for the Gulf region with over 1 million users a month. started off as an Analyst and worked across Product, Operations, Sales, Marketing before becoming the first Product Manager there. Rahul was CPO at Ithaka till March 2019. He took over as the CEO when Ameya Sahasrabudhe left Ithaka.
Mithilesh Said is the CTO of Ithaka. He is Mumbai University, 2014 graduate. He started off at a services company called Genii that got acquired by Practo. One of the best techies in the Mumbai circle, he is amazing at designing tech solutions and has built the Ithaka product from the ground up.
Ithaka’s current team size is 30.
Ithaka’s work culture is centered around freedom and ownership and a love for travel. The team is empowered to independently execute projects and drive impact led by strong direction from the founders. The best part is that the employees can work from anywhere they want, so a lot of folks sometimes travel and work.
As long as work gets done, everyone has the freedom to manage their personal lives. Everyone has to travel internationally once a year and there’s a specific trip fund budget for each person. We have done this so that people can be close to travel and feel the problem that they are solving.
Ithaka was started by Rahul Singh and Ameya Sahasrabudhe. Rahul and Ameya were friends from IIT Bombay. Both of them loved traveling and the inspiration to startup Ithaka came from their own travels. They saw that there was a specific need for discovering things to do and booking it online, especially in South East Asia. To validate it, they did a pilot run in Bangkok to see if people are interested and it came back positive. So they went about creating the first prototype: a mobile website for booking things to do and launched it in the market. That is where they first got the inspiration for a chat-based travel planning model.
While trying to sell activities and in-destination experiences to travelers on the ground, the Ithaka team noticed that there are many people who keep asking for travel advice. This made the team come up with the idea of a chat-based travel planning app.
We added a chat widget to the website. Interestingly we also started seeing more bookings as we helped more travelers on the chat which convinced us that there is a big business to be made out of this.
Ithaka – Name and Logo
Ithaka’s name is inspired by an illustrated poem by Constantine P Cavafy. This poem talks about how the journey is rewarding and the destination doesn’t matter and that’s the core spirit of Ithaka as well – to drive experiential travel that impacts a traveler’s life.
Ithaka Logo
Since the poem was about a sea voyage and that’s also related to travel, Ithaka’s logo is also made as a boat.
Ithaka – Revenue Model
Ithaka is free for travelers.
Ithaka earns revenue through Itinerary bookings that travelers do after they plan it with Influencers: these are bookings of experiences, hotels, flights, transport, etc. We have partnered with various operators to process these bookings and make commissions on them.
Soon Ithaka will be experimenting with a new monetization model where travelers will have the option to avail premium concierge services to make their bookings in the most optimized way for their route, budget and preferences.
Ithaka – Funding and Investors
Ithaka has raised 2 rounds of funding.
Funding Date
Funding Stage
Funding amount
Investors
July 2016
Angel
$325K
Angel Investors
November 2018
Seed
Undisclosed
Thomas Cook
Ithaka is the only travel tech company funded by Thomas Cook India.
Thomas Cook sees us as a major strategic play in building for the millennial travelers of India. Post-funding we have gained a lot of insight into the travel space that we lacked before. We have also started giving forex and visa services which we couldn’t before. And of course, the capital infusion has accelerated our growth path.
Ithaka was able to attract its initial set of customers organically, through social media. As said by Rahul, Ithaka spent zero money on getting its first customers. Ithaka spread awareness about its services in the Facebook groups where travelers were already discussing questions around their trips. Ithaka team also posted heavily on Quora to gain its first customers.
Content marketing, SEO and also word of mouth publicity has worked quite well for Ithaka.
If you have built a product that is truly valuable for the users, you grow organically. Our first 10,000 users came primarily from word of mouth of existing travelers.
Ithaka – Startup Challenges
The biggest challenge faced by Ithaka was while pivoting from in-house travel experts to the community of travel influencers for planning trips. It was a difficult phase for the company. However, the Ithaka team solved it by being lean and experimenting at a small scale. The company started with just 3 Travel Influencers which it got from the existing traveler base.
We first ensured that the traveler experience wasn’t suffering due to this shift from travel experts to travel influencers, and then we scaled it slowly while making the product better.
Ithaka – Competitors
For the Ithaka team, the plan is not to compete at all but to create the most connected travel eco-system ever built.
There are many apps for travel planning like Tripoto, Klook, Trip Planner and Travel Triangle which are competing with Ithaka. However, all these apps have their own USPs. Ithaka is even partnering with companies like Thomas Cook, Klook, etc. to bring the best of booking experiences to travelers on the app. For the Ithaka team, Airbnb has always been a source of inspiration.
What Ithaka primarily helps with is deciding what to do e.g. if a traveler is going to Europe, which cities will be the best for him. Where should he stay, what are things to do which he should not miss out on. There are no travel companies like Ithaka which help travelers make these crucial decisions and plan their trip properly.
Ithaka – Growth
The growth milestones achieved by Ithaka are-
Helped over 50,000 travelers.
The company has grown about 5 times in 2018-2019.
The company is doing great in terms of customer relationship management. Its NPS(Net Promoter Score) is 70.
Currently, Ithaka is live for 14 destinations across the world.
In the next 2 years, Ithaka plans to be live for any destination in the world and would expect to be growing 100x from the current scale.
Shubham Kumar
