The Hindu Business Line : Yatra.com aims at $210 m sales this year

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CHANDIGARH: Online travel company Yatra.com on Tuesday said it is targeting a total turnover of $210 million in 2008 and will also open 100 outlets within this year to increase its presence in the domestic market.

"We are aiming for $210 million of total sales by 2008 against total turnover of $120 million in 2007, which will be attained on the back of increasing online travel market in the country,'' Yatra Online Co-founder and CEO Dhruv Shringi told reporters he re.

Having forayed into retailing to provide better services to customers, the company has embarked on an aggressive expansion plan to have pan-India presence this year. "So far we have opened three holiday lounges and we have plans to open about 30 company- owned outlets and 70 outlets on franchise model with a total outlay of Rs 20 crore this year,'' he said.

Initially, it would focus on metro cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad for its retail venture. "After that we will move into Tier II and Tier III cities by adopting franchise route for opening our lounges,'' he said.

Dwelling upon growing Indian travel market, Shringi said the online travel market of the country was expected to touch $6 billion by 2010 from $1.75 billion in 2007. However, the total travel market in India stands at $16 billion in 2007, which would rea ch $26.1 billion by 2010.

"The online penetration of travel market, which is 11 per cent at present, will touch 23 per cent by 2010,'' he said. Post expansion, the online portal is quite keen to enter foreign markets as well. "Definitely, we will look at overseas market, especia lly the US and the UK, where the potential for Indian passengers traffic is quite high and after 12-18 months, we will have strong presence in these markets,'' he said. - PTI

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