The Travel & Tourism industry has seen a huge surge in the past few years and things have gained even more momentum this year. Innovative startups are coming up in this space and scaling at a rapid pace. We have also witnessed some major acquisitions like TaxiForSure by Ola and Mygola by MakeMyTrip. Local investors that were dormant until now have joined the game to further heat up things in this segment. The investments grew by over 50 percent in the second quarter of the year as compared to the first quarter.

Here is an exclusive infographic by TravHQ which consolidates some travel startup investments that have made the news in 2015. There are some startups in the list who haven’t disclosed the amount, but the experts can predict the range by looking at their categories, funding source and observing similar other investments.

Budget stays

This segment has seen the most action this year and according to industry experts, we will see a lot more activity in budget stays in the coming months. Finding quality budget stays was a major challenge for travellers in India and these startups seem to  be addressing the issue. While most of the inclusions are budget hotel chains like OYO Rooms, Zo Rooms, Treebo Hotels, FabHotels and Wudstay, Stayzilla operates as a platform for individual hotels as well as alternative stays.

Trip Planning

These services help you plan your travel by offering multiple itineraries or tools that can help you create your own. This is another industry segment that might see more players though growth is limited by the high dependence on community and limited monetisation opportunities here. Trip Hobo and Tripoto are two startups that help you discover itineraries of other people and help you plan your own vacations.

In-destination services

These services come in handy when you are travelling or have reached your destination. It isn’t exactly the hottest segment right now but with newer technologies entering the scene, it will gain momentum very soon. Guidoo and Trip38 are two very different startups that wiill help you in your travel. Guidoo allows you to explore destination with audio visual guides and offers the option to book local activities. Trip38 manages the itinerary in one place after you have got the bookings done via a booking service. It also offers the option of booking local activities similar to Guidoo.

Marketplace/ Travel search

Travel marketplaces are still evolving in India and are slowly gaining traction. Portals like Travel Triangle, Trip Factory or iTraveller leverage technology to capture customer preferences and offer a better tailored package for them. Travel search engine ixigo also saw investments this year while they are working to ramp up their services and increase the focus on mobile.

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The much awaited 2-day eTailing and Travel Commerce Conference summit by IAMAI gets underway tomorrow at Hotel Lalit in New Delhi. With a cracking line-up of speakers & panel discussions on some burning topics in the travel industry, the summit holds tremendous promise for all travel marketers, analysts and media fraternity.

TravHQ is the official media supporter for the event and our team will be bringing you the latest news on both days. With less than 24 hours to go for the Conference, here are some key sessions that you should definitely watch-out:

• Our Tourism Ministry has been quite active on the digital front and had launched an Incredible India mobile app last year. Considering that the Incredible India campaign has been offline for quite sometime now, the inaugural session by Guest of Honour, Shri Suman Billa, Jt. Secretary, Ministry of Tourism should give insights into government’s latest initiatives to promote India as a tourist destination

• The morning plenary session, Impact of Travel Market Places for The Online Travel Market boasts of a fantastic line-up of panelists including Sankalp Agarwal, Chief Executive Office of Travel Triangle, Aloke Bajpai, CEO and Co-founder, ixigo, Yogendra Vasupal, Founder and CEO, Stayzilla Deepak Wadhwa, Co-founder, WeAreHolidays. The discussion would focus on building trust & customer retention in the highly challenging online travel space led by instant gratifications.
• For those who love to track emerging travel-startups, the session on Social Travel-How New Age Start-Ups Are Redefining The Travel Industry? is a must attend. The session has Gautam Shewakramani, Founder & CEO, AudioCompass, Paavan Nanda, Co-founder, Zostel & Chitra Gurnani, Co-Founder, Thrillophilia Adventure Tours and Ish Jindal, Co-founder, Padhaaro as panelists.
• We also have a session on Global Expansion In Travel And Hospitality Industry – An Appetite For Growth.
• On Day 2, the session on Social Media Driving Digital Conversations In Tourism And Hospitality Industry will capture the latest trends on how OTAs, online market places and hotels are using Social Media to attract & engage the customers.

That’s not all! Speakers from leading OTAs, Yatra & Cleartrip would be sharing the experience of their respective journeys in the competitive travel landscape. Overall, the summit is a must attend for those who want to stay updated with the latest trends in “Travel & Hospitality” industry.

If you are a Travel brand and have a story to share with us, get in touch with our team at the summit. You can give us a shout-out on our Twitter handle or write at info@travhq.com.

The post eTailing and Travel Commerce Conference Starts Tomorrow, What to Expect appeared first on TravHQ.

There is a growing need for hotel rooms across India and there aren’t enough good hotels to meet the demand. There are a large number of budget hotels but their occupancy rates are low because of reliability issues. Startups like Oyo Rooms and Zo Rooms are trying to solve this by standardizing budget hotels. This gives travellers the confidence to book budget hotels while increasing the occupancy rate for these hotels.

Following the entry of Oyo Rooms in the budget hotel segment, Zo Rooms has entered the arena with their own lineup of budget hotel offerings. Stayzilla also plays in the same segment but they are more of a marketplace and not exactly a chain of rebranded hotels. Zo Rooms is a startup by the founders of Zostel, a chain of budget backpacker hostels. They started only a few months back and have already got around 100 hotels across multiple locations. Initially they are trying to cover all regions or localities of the major cities before expanding to other cities.

They have got tablets installed at all of their properties for receiving instant feedback and addressing issues. They claim that they are the first budget hotel chain to do this.

Hotels can be booked through their website or their mobile app (which is in beta phase at the moment). The website lists twelve locations right now that are Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Delhi, Noida, Bangalore, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune, Gurgaon and Goa. They are already playing host to a good number of guests and are expecting the number to grow further. Business travel generates a major chunk of revenues for travel industry and to make sure they get some of it, they have signed up with 20+ MNCs to be their accommodation partner.

This is helpful for budget hotels as they get the reach and online presence they don’t get otherwise. On top of that it gives the customer a sense of confidence due to standardisation bringing in more bookings for the hotel. Zo Rooms has got big plans ahead and they plan to have over 1000 hotels across 50 cities by the end of this year.

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