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Our Bureau

Chennai, Nov. 7 Online travel booking portal Cleartrip has introduced the ‘flights + hotel search’ feature on its Web site that will permit users to book airline tickets along with hotel reservations on the same screen. The company has information on 3,500 domestic hotels and has deployed a team to obtain information on more hotels to add to its database.

The company plans to offer international airline booking services in the next two months and currently has information on 75,000 international hotels, said Mr Sandeep Murthy, Chief Executive Officer, Cleartrip.

It also plans to introduce railway ticket booking on its portal and is in talks with the ISRTC for a licence.

In July it entered into a partnership with the Future Group to pilot launch outlets of Cleartrip in four Future Bazaar stores on the lines of the ‘store-in-store’ concept. “We will look at expanding this to 66 stores,” Mr Murthy said.

The online travel market in India is estimated to be about $2 billion (about Rs 8,000 crore) with portals generating revenues of $800 million (about Rs 3,200 crore) last year. Cleartrip generates revenues of Rs 1.8 crore daily with a conversion rate of 5.5 per cent (of those who book tickets to those who browse the site). The new ‘flights + hotel search’ feature, is expected to increase sales by 30 per cent, said Mr Murthy at a press conference.

Cleartrip has, so far, received investments of $11.7 million (about Rs 46.8 crore) from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sherpalo Ventures and DAG Ventures. About 50 per cent of this is invested in technology platforms. The company would not require additional funding for its future plans, Mr Murthy said in response to a question.

More Stories on : Online Marketing | E-Commerce & E-Business | Airlines | Hotels

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