by Vijaylakshmi 
MakeMyTrip, which posted its highest ever quarterly gross bookings of more than USD 2 billion in the first quarter of this fiscal year, will grow twice the rate of the travel industry in the foreseeable future, its group chief executive said.In an interview with ET, Rajesh Magow cited increasing international travel, multiple trips and vacations of young Indians, and the company’s “innovative” products and services as factors supporting his prediction.Thetravelcompany plans to pivot to its next phase of growth through diversified segments such as hotels, homestays, its B2B corporate business, intercity cabs and bus transport. International travel is emerging as a critical revenue generator and is likely to contribute an even bigger share of the total revenue in the months ahead, Magow said.“Given that there has been consistent profitability at a scale which can be like a milestone or a goal for any aspiring internet company in India, it will be fair to say that there will be a new phase of the company hereon, and there is no going back,” he said. “Now we have to look at how we accelerate growth. One segment that will show a lot more promise is international travel—37 percent of our flight revenue is coming from outbound travel now. It was about 25 percent pre-Covid,” he said. “The share of international travel is likely to go up in the coming months. All visa issues are getting resolved gradually, and a lot of countries are looking at Indian tourists as a huge source market.”Magow said international hotels are also contributing a lot more to the revenue and that the company is planning to add more hotels through direct contracts in destinations that are on the radar of Indian travellers.“We directly contracted approximately 1,500 hotels in about eight countries and 12 cities last year and are looking at a similar number this year as well. Our strategy on directly contracted hotels is that we pick up the consumer insights that we have on Indian travellers to offer more tailored services. All our domestic supply is through direct contracts, and we are looking at increasing our hotel supply through direct contracts in international markets such as France, Switzerland, the US and the UK, besides other destinations such as Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Azerbaijan,” he added.Speaking on the company’s earnings call last week, Magow had said its gross booking value for quarter one was more than USD 2.4 billion, with growth at 22 percent year on year in constant currency terms. Adjusted operating profit was USD 39.1 million, up 30 percent from a year earlier.”Our strategy of catering to various travel use cases and targeting different demand segments on multiple customer touchpoints is helping us deliver sustained growth. A wide spectrum of travel products is also helping us increase the wallet share of Indian travellers,” he had said.The company currently has around 35,000 rooms on its platform in the homestays category, and that could be another big opportunity, besides the corporate business, intercity cabs and bus transport, Magow said.”Given the focus on infrastructure spending in the budget, domestic tourism growth will keep continuing and we will keep using our existing playbook for domestic flights and hotels,” he said.
Published On Jul 29, 2024 at 09:00 PM IST
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