The Hindu Business Line : Online travel portals going in for brick and mortar stores

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Online travel portals going in for brick and mortar stores

Shubhra Tandon

Mumbai, Oct. 10 Personal touch in any service seems to be working better with Indian customers as opposed to the virtual medium, especially in the tier-II and-III cities. Travel portals like Yatra.com and Cleartrip.com along with other players in online travel space are looking to do just that.

Yatra is planning to reach out to around 22 cities through its retail outlets by end-2008. Kicking off with four outlets in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore, with an overall investment of Rs 2 crore by end-2007, the online travel company will hit ground in 18 tier-II and -III cities next year.

Yatra’s CEO and Co-Founder, Mr Dhruv Shringi, told Business Line on the sidelines of a press conference here, “While this year is focussed on metros, next year we would be looking at State capitals and other important cities in tier-II and -III cities space.”

On reasons for diversifying the core business of online travel, the Marketing Head of Yatra.com, Mr Nikhil Rungta, said: “In some services like booking a holiday package customers prefer a face-to-face interaction as they need to know the exact details of their product.”

“It also adds credibility to the brand as the customers have the assurance that they can approach us in case of any queries,” he added.

Yatra has investments from venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners, Reliance Capital and TV 18 Group. Mr Shringi said the company might consider an entry into the capital markets next year depending on what course the online travel industry and the markets take.

Another reason for going in for physical stores is slow penetration of broadband and Internet facilities in the country, say experts from both companies. To tackle the issue, Cleartrip has started kiosks in five Big Bazaars in Mumbai as part of a tie-up with the Kishore Biyani-owned Future Group.

The customers can make bookings for their air tickets, holiday packages and other offerings and also have the option to pay through extended monthly instalments with Future Money providing finances for the same.

“Starting with five kiosks in Mumbai, we would take the facility to other Big Bazaar outlets in tier-II cities such as Jaipur, Goa, Ahmedabad and other metros by the end of this month,” said Mr Stuart Crighton, COO, Cleartrip.com.

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