The past two years have been nothing short of a roller coaster ride for India’s online travel market. The year 2015 saw more global capital finding its way to Indian shores than ever before and a significant fraction of the capital was directed towards travel companies. This not only accelerated the growth of existing travel startups trying to tackle challenges with technology but also paved the ground for new models in the room left by bigger players. The fact that the market was opening up to new products and services was also encouraging for the ecosystem.

The budget hotel segment which previously witnessed limited activity and was relying largely on referrals and walk-ins saw fresh interest with the entry of Oyo Rooms. While Ginger Hotel got us acquainted with the idea that quality accommodation doesn’t mean high price, the large bet SoftBank placed on Oyo initiated a race which attracted multiple participants like Treebo Hotels, ZO Rooms, Vista Rooms, FabHotels and WudStay. This also inspired similar models across South-east Asian market and got even the domestic OTAs to sit up and take notice.

While OYO inspired headlines all over the world, other segments like trip planning and holiday booking also continued to make their presence felt in the market. Planning startups like Tripoto and Trip Hobo attracted investments and are simplifying how we plan our trips. GoFro and Travel Triangle, both just out of their fresh round of equity infusions are catering to the complex holiday segment. While MakeMyTrip backed Go Fro takes a product centric approach to cater to the complex space, Travel Triangle is bringing in the promise of a marketplace. Brands with stronger presence like Yatra and Ezeego1 aren’t skipping this space either and have their own holiday marketplaces.

Most of the developments were inspired by the changing behaviour of Indian traveller and the growth of internet connected population further fuelled digital initiatives in travel. This created room for mobile first products like AudioCompass and Trotoise to enhance how travellers experience their destination. Startups like ConfirmTkt and RailYatri highlighted how technology can solve real-world problems by complementing the state-owned company.

The metasearch players also see opportunity in the price sensitive Indian market. Trivago, Skyscanner, Wego and ixigo have been working in ways to educate travellers about the advantage they offer. While ixigo attracted fresh capital to continue building India-centric products, KAYAK also announced its entry into the market earlier this year.

With improved access to smartphones, homegrown ground transportation company Ola continued to present tough competition to American ridesharing giant Uber while expanding its footprint across the country. Its growth also inspired the birth of different models in the ground transportation space to complement other travel services and drive the masses towards access rather than ownership. ZoomCar, Myles, Revv, Voler are all enabling access to vehicles and adding options for different kind of travellers.

But it wasn’t all good news in the Indian travel market. As the investments at later stages slowed down by 2016, clouds of negativity started to appear over some businesses. Some even decided to shut shops while some changed directions to hold their spot in what was becoming one of the more competitive travel markets.

With the heightened competition from new and existing players, brands started finding allies to have a stronger footprint in the market. Possibly the biggest development over the past two years was announced by MakeMyTrip as it decided to join forces with Goibibo to create a larger entity. Parallel to this, Paytm was pressing the pedal on horizontal expansion by adding multiple travel services to leverage the massive reach built on the back of its wide array of products.

These developments, along with many others, will have a massive influence on the future of India’s travel industry. Not only will they draw the baseline for the upcoming travel businesses but will also affect how major travel brands and investors act. As online travel penetrates deeper into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, it is crucial for players in this space to tailor for the new audience. Deciphering the complex web of India’s travel market requires deciphering the behaviour of Indian traveller. To enable travel brands to take a step in the same direction and have a deeper understanding of the fast growing market, Phocuswright is rolling out Phocus Collection project, Indian Consumer Travel Report 2017.

The Phocus Collection Projects are extensive studies focused on answering the pressing questions in travel and hospitality industry. This upcoming project provides actionable insights and analysis into what drives the travellers, from dreaming and destination selection through planning, purchasing, experiencing and sharing. The research uncovers general traveller behaviour by trip type, frequency, length, spend, destination and psychographics.

You can find more details about Indian Consumer Travel Report 2017 or explore opportunities to contribute to the panoramic project here.

The post The next big shift in India’s online travel space? appeared first on TravHQ.

Globally the phenomenon of travel startups has been on the rise and via our platform, we have been making an ardent effort to recognise the problem solvers across the travel & tourism industry. According to a research by Phocuswright, about 1000 travel startups were launched between the period of 2005 and 2014, attracting about $12.2 billion in investments. Many of these travel startups have become global success stories inspiring more entrepreneurs in the travel segment to think of newer ideas.

While bidding adieu to 2015, we announced #StartupKnockdown our flagship initiative to recognise Travel Startups across various clusters & cities in India. The first leg of #StartupKnockdown which is scheduled to take place in Mumbai on 19th February 2016  has witnessed an overwhelming response from many travel startups. After an intensive round of screening all entries, we are glad to announce the list of finalists for the Mumbai session.

These finalists will battle it out in front of our panel of judges to win the coveted award at TechForum @OTM, Mumbai.

Fxkart

Fxkart is the first platform of its kind that allows international travellers to exchange currency hassle free. Travellers can post their requirements, get quotes from multiple verified dealers and get the exchange at the doorstep.

MyTripKarma

MyTripKarma is a startup that tries to address the requirements of travellers at multiple stages. It allows multiple travellers to collaborate for one trip, discuss the plans and then buy as one instead of multiple transactions.

Tramily

Tramily is a marketplace for hoteliers and travel agents. It tries to increase the personal connection of the agents and hoteliers which they can leverage to each other’s advantage. Agents can post their requirements for hotels or find deals to put together their packages using the mobile app.

GoMowgli

GoMowgli takes an interesting approach to the conventional local tours. Instead of just aggregating tours and activities from different providers, they are taking more control over the same to offer a consistent travel experience.

EasyGroupBook

We often have to take the offline route when it comes to booking for events or for large groups. However EasyGroupBook plans to change that. It simplifies the lodging for event organisers by offering negotiated rates for the hotels available for the event through a cloud based solution.

inTRANSIT by Nanak Technologies 

inTRANSIT is a social networking platform that enhances one’s travel experience by improving both the means of communication with other travellers and the quality of time spent at airports. In the inTRANSIT Lounge, travellers can meet like-minded individuals at airports with absolute ease. It offers duty-free deals and promotions to expand its customer base.

iManageMyHotel

The small hotels often rely on old school property management methods as investing into developing software solutions is costly. iManageMyHotel provides a centralised property management system which allows hoteliers to manage their properties from cloud.

If you couldn’t send in your pitch for this edition of Travel Startup Knockdown, you can be a part of the next event in Delhi. Find more details here.

Update (Feb 16, 2016): We have been informed by the OTM team that TripHobo has opted out of participation in #StartupKnockdown Mumbai.

The post Announcing the finalists of the first Travel Startup Knockdown in Mumbai appeared first on TravHQ.

It was about 6:30pm in the evening, there was nip in the air and a perfect time to drive back home. But when you are supposed to get on a call with veteran travel entrepreneur, strategic business advisor and founder of Travel Startups Incubator, Matt Zito, one won’t mind staying in the office. I spoke with Matt last week and he shared some wonderful insights about Travel Startups Incubator, the startups they have invested in so far and the launch of their India operations.

Travel Startups Incubator was launched about a year and half ago in September 2014 by Matt and his wife Nicole S. Zito. Later they hired Mike Coletta in November 2015 as the Managing Director. Mike brings to the team, 14+ years experience as a travel entrepreneur and  travel tech organiser. The three of them work on a day to basis building the company.

Travel Startups Incubator has raised $1Million from a venture capitalist in UK and Dubai to invest in 30 companies. The program is $25,000 and they work with startups via a virtual Global Incubator program for 6 months. The program is less of an incubator and more of a business and strategic marketing advisory where Matt & his team help startups move the needle with their business-development relationships in the travel industry.

Travel Startups Incubator funds, advises, mentors and provides business development services to travel startups across the globe

How does Travel Startups Incubator work?

The virtual incubator has an advisory & mentoring team of 15 high level travel executives from Amadeus, Facebook and others who have built multi billion dollar companies. Each startup gets one or two mentors to work with them during the 6 month program which works out very really well.

The company is also building a global travel technology investor platform and has approximately 150 investors in its database. This platform aggregates all companies that have received investment from Travel Startups Incubator and are aiming to raise further capital. The system acts as a private pool where all startups can upload their pitch decks, information about the company, management etc. Investors are also sent monthly reports which keeps them in the loop about who is doing what and their growth traction etc.

Why is it different from other Startup Incubator Programs?

While the Travel Startups Incubator program is of 6 months contractual commitment, the TSI team continues to work with those who are succeeding or have a potential to succeed in the near future. For instance, they are still backing 4 of the startups and helping them grow the company after making an initial investment in 2014.

As Matt says, “The reality is in the startup world, it takes 3 years to build a company. While there are guys in the online world getting acquired in 12 to 18 months for their technology or team, the underlying foundation of doing business is to build a profitable one with revenue”.

From L to R: Mike Coletta, Nicole Zito and Matt Zito

The real value of Travel Startups Incubator is with its business development network across the travel industry. They have built a strategic alliance with Amadeus, the leading GDS & IT Tech solutions provider in the world. In addition, they have business development relationships with Skyscanner, easyJet, Emirates, Tahiti Innovation Labs and many more.

Matt adds, “Our bigger vision of what we’re trying to do is through the advancement of technology, evolution of investing online, someday travelstartups.co will enable for any travel startup in the world to raise money via our platform”.

What makes Travel Startups Incubator different is that it typically invests in alpha/beta stages, which means the products are either not built or are ready to show. Having said that there are few companies that are in their first year, generating some revenue and are looking at raising some funds.

Travel Startups Incubator in India

Travel Startups Incubator will be represented in India by InnoveLaw, a Mumbai based law practice firm. Its presence in India was always on the cards as Matt says that currently they get 40 to 50% of startup applications from Indian travel entrepreneurs. India is the number 2 country behind United States in-terms of the overall website traffic.

The incubator has invested in 14 companies so far and has just made an offer to an Indian travel startup company. The company will be the first Indian startup in the Travel Startups Incubator program. Travel Startups Incubator usually takes a startup it likes to an in-discussion, relationship building phase where they monitor the startup’s growth for two to three months before making an offer. For instance, they are now tracking multiple tours & activities startups in India for the next 60 to 90 days and will possibly make an offer to one of them in the next couple of months.

TravHQ Take: What Indian Travel Startups need to know?

Travel Startups Incubator program presents a fantastic mentorship opportunity for all Indian travel entrepreneurs who are working on exciting ideas. The cumulative value of the incubator is far higher than the pre-seed/seed funding investment of $25,000. The team has a strong network in the travel industry which can provide the right impetus to all startups who’re looking to grow to the next level.

To learn more about the incubator and apply for funding, visit the program website. If you have any questions about the application process, please email them to matt@travelstartups.co.

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As we approach the end of the year 2015, we are certain that everyone is cooking up plans for the New Year. In a short span of time, we have learned about many interesting travel startups and shared them with our community.

For 2016, we are all set to go a step further with our Startup Knockdown initiative.

#StartupKnockdown will be a series of events that we will host in different regions with an objective to identify business ideas that will disrupt the travel industry. These events will be hosted in association with renowned event partners and will offer great opportunities for travel startups in terms of media-recognition, networking opportunities and potential investor access.

We are pleased to announce that the inaugural Startup Knockdown event will be hosted in Mumbai on February 19, 2016 in association with TechForum@OTM. OTM is India’s biggest B2B travel trade show for outbound and inbound tourism in India. You can expect the presence of leading domestic & international tourism boards, OTAs, hotels and airlines in the trade show. For more details visit otm.co.in.

The entries are open now and interested startups can send their pitch deck to editor@travhq.com with the subject ‘Startup Knockdown Mumbai’. Our panel of judges will nominate 4 travel startups to present during TechForum@OTM, a niche platform to connect, engage and deliberate on travel technologies. The winners will be awarded during the event. This year it is expected that OTM Mumbai will attract over 5,000 travel trade visitors making it a great platform for the startups.

The entries are open till February 7, 2016 and the list of shortlisted startups who will get an on-stage presentation opportunity will be shared by February 12, 2016.

For any queries, you can write to us on the above email ID or tweet @TravHQ.

Keep watching this space for more updates on some of the other activities at OTM Mumbai.

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