Online travel trade braces to smash $1.4 bn mark in 2007 Financial Express, New Delhi, May 6, 2007: For an industry that made its presence felt as late as 2005 end, capturing a market size worth $800 million is definitely something to write home about. According to experts, the online travel segment is expected to clock 70% growth by this year-end with a market size that will increase to a whopping $1.4 billion. In fact, today most online travel portals sell about 3,500 to 4,000 tickets a day. This is still 7-8% of the total travel industry in the country (estimated at more than $20 billion). The percentage of the online travel segment is expected to grow to 10% in the coming year. In comparison, are countries like the US where 30% of travel bookings (air tickets plus packages) are done online. "The industry will grow 4-5 times in the next 7-8 years. With only a handful of players present in the market today, the growth projections are enough to attract a number of players into this segment in the next couple of years," says Dhruv Shringi, co-founder, Yatra Online Pvt Ltd. But, most of the online travel trade today is primarily dominated by e-ticketing and reservation for stand-alone hotels. Most consumers end up researching packages online, though they still prefer finalising everything face-to-face. But, experts in the travel industry feel that with Internet penetration increasing by the day, online travel bookings are only going to rise further. Says Shringi, "The need of the customer was always there. However, he never had any option earlier. Further, the fact that we are open 24x7 also goes down well with consumers, for it is more convenient for them to do their bookings." Apart from the convenience factor, transparency is a major reason why online travel trade is growing in leaps and bounds. The Internet gives customers various options rather than just rely on their travel agents' words. Back