India's online travel market is beating the odds, with online bookings continuing to surge at double-digit rates despite very low Internet and credit card penetration. In 2014, online channels accounted for 39% of travel bookings, according to Phocuswright's India Online Travel Report, putting India just a few percentage points behind the world's most mature online travel markets – the U.S. and Europe.
The huge air and rail segments have long buoyed India's online penetration rates, but now lodging is catching up. A healthier overall hotel market, along with online travel agencies' (OTAs') vigorous efforts to bring fragmented lodging content onto their platforms, combined to boost online hotel bookings 32% to US$800 million in 2014. Hotels' shift to online channels will continue at a similar pace, pushing online penetration in the segment to 27% by 2017.
As OTAs double down on hotel distribution, they are also investing heavily in mobile offerings, pursuing a growing user base with broader product offerings and a better user experience. Mobile accounted for nearly one in five OTA gross booking dollars in 2014, and that share is projected to climb rapidly. India's total mobile bookings (OTAs and suppliers combined) are projected to hit $3.2 billion by 2017, with OTAs accounting for the vast majority of that figure.
Courtesy : Phocuswright
Author: Pradeep M.S
Pradeep works as Technical Lead in Teknokraaft and works with our OTA team.