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Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai March 26 Having made its debut in India, online travel portal Travelocity is seeking local partners for additional revenues. The Texas-based company is ready to operate in the B2B space and is open to partnering with existing Web sites that are looking for a travel-related option on their site. At the same time, the portal is also exploring options for offline partners such as travel agencies, who could also offer the services of Travelocity.

Mr Himanshu Singh, Managing Director, Travelocity India, told Business Line, "We are looking at revenue sharing arrangements with online players as well as commission-based models with travel services companies in the Indian market. We would be willing to share technology and content but there will be no equity participation with them."

Supporting its services with call centres operated by WNS, the travel portal expects to break even with its Indian operations within the next two years. Currently it offers online services for hotel bookings and cruises but it plans to extend its services to include airline ticketing, car rentals and visa services.

The company is owned by Sabre Holdings Corporation"Being owned by Sabre has its advantages. Getting confirmation on real-time online bookings across a choice of 72,000 hotels is what Travelocity would do," Mr Singh said. The portal offers wholesale rates of the hotels which can be paid in rupees. Travelocity also offers a choice of 1,000 cruises and 4,000 popular sights for Indian travellers through its site (travelocity.co.in).

Mr Scott Blume, President, Travelocity, said, "Today almost 62 per cent of the business we do comes from Asia. India is the seventh country to get added in Travelocity's Asia list."

With more international travel portals such as Expedia and Orbit waiting to enter the Indian market, the online travel business is poised for growth.

More Stories on : Online Marketing | Internet | Travel & Places

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