The Hindu Business Line : Tickets, please

"This solution is a win-win for customers and airlines, as customers get tickets at their price while the airlines are able to effectively monetise their unsold inventory."

D. Murali

Ananth Narasimhan, CEO, Atyourprice.in

D. Murali

Meet Ananth Narasimhan, CEO, Atyourprice.in, who is happy that several of his online customers get tickets which are cheaper than the market price by 40-50 per cent. “As for corporate users, our software has been effective in not only reducing the number of travel admins and vendors but also creating an effective way to implement travel policies,” he adds, during a recent email interaction with eWorld.

With a B.Tech from IIT-Madras and a Masters from the University of Illinois, Urbana, Narasimhan worked for United Airlines in Chicago and as an airline consultant for Sabre. Returning to India, he focused on creating software for the travel industry, played the role of consultant for Jet Airways to set up the revenue management department, and started Ghumo.com — an online travel search engine, before co-founding Atyourprice with funding from Mumbai Angels.

Excerpts from the interview:

Do you expect online travel portals, such as yours, to replace the traditional travel agent?

A traditional travel agent primarily performs two roles, one of the ticketing agent and the other as a servicing agent. Online travel portals are able to automate the ticketing part very effectively and will soon replace the traditional travel agent. However, the travel planning and servicing will still have to be handled by an offline agent.

How do you see the present financial crisis impacting the travel industry? And, what can be the countermeasures and alternative strategies for the industry?

Travel industry is highly dependent on the economic cycles. The current economic downturn is having a negative effect on the travel industry. It is difficult to insulate the entire industry from the economic slowdown. However, companies can insulate themselves better by planning for economic downturns as much as they plan for growth. For example, travel agencies can ensure that they have a good mix of both leisure and business travel passengers.

What are the benefits that you bring to the table, for the traveller (both individual and corporate) and the airline?

Benefits to the traveller are a ‘one-stop shop’ for air ticketing, and access to cheaper air tickets which are not available otherwise. Benefits to the corporate are: Automation of travel planning; booking and reporting; effective implementation of travel policies; and access to both normal and unsold inventory.

In what ways is your offering different from other online travel portals?

While travel portals are generally only effective distribution outlets for air tickets, Atyourprice.in allows the customer to request an air ticket from the airlines at his/her price. Airlines are provided a software link to these requests through which they will be able to evaluate and accept or reject the customer requests based on the availability of unsold seats. This solution is thus a win-win for both the customers and the airlines, since customers get tickets at their price while the airlines are able to effectively monetise their unsold inventory.

Tell us about the tech-edge in your solution… also, its global relevance and application to industries other than travel.

Our solution addresses a basic problem of suppliers around the world on how to offer customised product/services at customised prices to customers. Today, with the advent of the Internet more and more customers are directly interacting with the suppliers online. Online transactions create a wealth of data for the suppliers. Our software helps them to effectively sift through the data and create more customised offering to the customers.

For example, using our software, airlines can understand that you are travelling often from Delhi to Chennai and hence if empty seats are available on their flight they can create a customised offering to you and lure you to travel from Delhi to Chennai.

Globally, several industries such as airlines, hotels, media, car rentals and cinemas are facing the problem of effectively getting rid of unsold perishable inventory. Our solution addresses their needs effectively.

As someone who has been in the international airline industry for about a decade, what do you see as the major shifts in travel trends (inbound and outbound) in India? Also, what is your take on the likely trends in Indian travel?

India is a country with tremendous potential for tourism. We can greatly increase the volume of domestic and inbound tourism in this country if we improve the infrastructure for travel and tourism. The Government needs to take a more comprehensive view of this industry and not just look at air travel, rail travel, hotels and highways individually. Outbound tourism is growing very rapidly in India and more and more people will travel outside India if tourism infrastructure in India does not improve.

Do you plan to enter the mobile space too?

India has only 40 million Internet users while it has around 300 million mobile users. While the reach of the mobile is huge, we have a long way to go before the mobile platform will be effectively used for making transactions.

Are there significant difficulties that corporate travel admin heads continue to face despite IT adoption within the company?

Unlike a typical purchase where a financial transaction is done only after the order is booked and delivered, a travel admin is faced with the problem where a financial transaction is completed as soon as the ticket is booked. If the passenger after booking the ticket decides to reschedule or cancel his ticket, another financial transaction is made.

This makes the job of travel admins very difficult since it is important for them to keep track of these transactions meticulously. Most IT systems do not capture this peculiarity of travel purchase and hence are unable to support the travel admin effectively. Our product supports all of these effectively for the travel admin and can also integrate with existing IT systems of the company.

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