INDIA

ONLINE HOTEL BOOKING

MARKET

Shirish Bohare
(shiriishbohare@gmail.com)
OVERVIEW
√ 180+ startups
√ 46 founded in 2014
√ Total $298 M invested in 40 startups
√ 2014: $55 M invested
√ 2015: $71 M invested in first 3 deals
• 8.4 M Online Buyers
↑ 2.5X growth expected from 3.5M in 2014 to 8.4M in
2016

• 1.8B Online Hotel Revenue

↑ 1.2X growth expected from 0.8B in 2014 to 1.8B in 2016
√ 83% of users who research hotels online transact online
√ 64% of users prefer shorter and more frequent holidays
√ 30X Hotel query growth on Google search across
smartphones from 2011 to 2014
√ 27% users booking hotels on mobile
 INDIA TOURISM
 7.68 M Foreign Tourist
 10.2% annual growth rate

 1282 M domestic tourist visits to states/UTs

 11.9% annual growth rate

 $ 20.24 B foreign exchange earning from tourism

 9.7% annual growth rate

 263.4 M Foreign Tourists in Asia-Pacefic

 5.4% annual growth rate

 $ 376.9 B foreign exchange earning from tourism

 4.5% annual growth rate
 79%
Women prefer booking hotels
38%
Last minute Hotels+Tickets
online booking happen on mobile

64%
Users prefer shorter &
49%
Prefer budget accommodation
frequent holidays

53%
Book hotels online due to
27%
Hotels booking online
ease of searching
 29% 34% 57%

Research Online & Research Online & Research Offline &

Book Online Book Offline Book Offline
Internet Use: Several Internet Use: Once a Internet Use: Several
times a day day times a day
Preferred transport: Air Preferred transport: Bus Preferred transport: Air
Top Cities: Delhi, Top Cities: Delhi, Top Cities: Delhi,
Hyderabad Lucknow Hyderabad
 OTA STAY TOURS CONTENT

OTA Hotels Local Activities Content

Makemytrip Hotelsaroundyou Thrillophilia HolidayIQ
Yatra stayzila Mygola AudioCompass

Metasearch Vacation Rentals Guides Planning

Tripvillas SeekSherpa TripHobo
Ixigo RoomnHouse TripTern
GuideTrip

Asset Light Travel Agents Travel Community

OYO Rooms WeAreHolidays Tripoto
V Resorts TravelTriangle 365Hops

Backpackers
Zostel
 India's Position in World
Share of India in International Tourist
0.68%
Arrivals

India's rank in World Tourist Arrivals 41

Share of India in International Tourism

1.58%
Receipts (US$ terms)

India's rank in World Tourism Receipts 15

 India's Position in Asia & the Pacific Region
Share of India in International Tourist
2.92%
Arrivals
India's rank in International Tourist
12
Arrivals
Share of India in International Tourism
5.22%
Receipts (US $ terms)
India's rank in International Tourism
7
Receipts
Top 10 Source Countries for Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs)
in India in 2014
Source Country FTAs (in Million) Percentage (%) Share
United States 1118983 14.57
Bangladesh 942562 12.27
United Kingdom 838860 10.92
Sri Lanka 301601 3.93
Russian Federation 269832 3.51
Canada 268485 3.5
Malaysia 262026 3.41
France 246101 3.2
Australia 239762 3.12
Germany 239106 3.11
Total top 10 Country 4727318 61.56
Others 2951781 38.44
Share of Top 10 States/UTs of India in Number of Foreign
Tourist Visits in 2014

State/UT Number Percentage Share (%)

Tamil Nadu 4657630 20.6
Maharashtra 4389098 19.4
Uttar Pradesh 2909735 12.9
Delhi 2319046 10.3
Rajasthan 1525574 6.8
West Bengal 1375740 6.1
Kerala 923366 4.1
Bihar 829508 3.7
Karnataka 561870 2.5
Haryana 547367 2.4
Total of Top 10 20038934
Others 2528716
Share of Top 10 States/UTs of India in Number of Domestic
Tourist Visits - 2014
State/UT Number Percentage Share (%)
Tamil Nadu 327555233 25.6
Uttar Pradesh 182820108 14.3
Karnataka 118283220 9.2
Maharashtra 94127124 7.3
Andhra Pradesh 93306974 7.3
Telengana 72399113 5.6
Madhya Pradesh 63614525 5
West Bengal 49029590 3.8
Jharkhand 33427144 2.6
Rajasthan 33076491 2.6
Total of top 10 States 1067639522
Others 214312733
1,800,000,000$
Online Hotel Booking Market in 2016 (est.)

8,400,000 users
Users in 2016 (est.)

27%
Users booking hotels on mobile
 Booking.com Makemytrip
Market leader in India and
Surely a game changer
with the best rates to surely one of the best user
experience.
offer.
Need a good marketing Can improve a lot on app
and user engagement.
plan to expand in India.
Need regular checks as They can come up with best
marketing campaigns and
the hotels are offering
higher prices as offers with the immense
data collected over the
compared to their actual
rates. years
Ixigo Expedia
More focused on online Global giant, covers wide range
tickets, though covers a of properties and destinations.
Nice user experience and
large number of hotels to
offers..
offer. Need better brand awareness
Scope of improvement in in India-APAC
terms of user experience, A lot better campaigns & offers
quality and price. can be created using the user
behavior data & patters
Tripadvisor
Definitely a leader in its
category.
Surely need more brand
visibility and awareness in
India. Should start using
the immense data to come
up with initiatives to boost
numbers
Yatra
A wide range of offerings
from flights to hotels.
Nice UI & Offers.
Need a better connect with
target audience through
digital & social.
Better marketing & brand
campaigns can work
wonders
 OYO Rooms
Quite an innovative idea and
amazing brand.
Along with media burst, they
should come up with innovative
marketing ideas and offers, like
travel fests to boost sales in
specific regions in specific
months, win win for both
travellers and business
Airbnb
One of the best brands with
presence in more than 30k cities
and covering more than
15,00,000 properties.
Can use the brand power mixed
with native marketing to rule the
market in India & APAC region.
Mix of data and marketing can
boost the sales in India way
more
Zostel
Relatively new player in the
market with an interesting idea.
Can surely be the game changer
by not acquiring the market
segment, but by expanding the
market size.
A lot can be done in terms of
branding and marketing.
Campaigns like backpackers fests
can increase the numbers and
brand awareness
HolidayIQ
They are surely making it big
with the wide range to select
from.
A large variety of content,
videos and SEO focused.
User experience and design
can be improved a lot
Tripoto
Very informative and highly
engaging.
Social media can be a big
game changer.
Improvement scope in content
quality and marketing.
Social engagement campaigns
can help the brand further
eBookers
One of the early movers from
London.
Very nicely planned platform in
terms of functionality & SEO.
Can have India specific website
and better UI to boost
numbers.
Right marketing & data mining
can assure an upper hand
attracting international as well
as domestic tourists.
 SCOPE OF IMPROVEMENT
• Using data to create marketing plans/campaigns
Eg: target top 10 countries offering their most preferred destinations in India. Using local
language & emotions specially in countries like Germany, Spain etc.

• Real time experience

Based on user behavior on the website, generating results and offers to encourage
conversions

• Promoting segments/region
Based on the yearly patters, offering the best deals much in advance to acquire more
customers like goa in year end, himachal in summers etc.
 SCOPE OF IMPROVEMENT
• Off season offers
Based on user data, conversion rates and estimation, special offers can be created in
association with the hotels to increase the revenues in the off-season (remember,
birthday, anniversary & holidays happens throughout the year)

• Brand connect
App notifications, sms, emails & social media should be used in a planned way to maintain
the user engagement, not annoying and losing them. OTA & Content portals will have
very difference strategy here.

• Better campaigns
Innovative campaigns to assure your brand is always on the top of your user’s mind. From
birthday deals to exclusive offers and loyalty programs, add value and surely the average
user value will increase.
 FEW CAMPAIGN IDEAS
• Border Run
- A campaign to target solo and budget travelers offering them the best deals every
month/quarter in association with the hotels to boost the numbers in off season. Can
work very well for brands like Zostel, OYO etc.

• “Brand Name” Travelers Club

Loyalty programs and offers exclusively for members. Campaigns like full moon fest
where users can buy a stay in a particular month at a destination and chose to go there
on any of the weekends in that month.

• Travel Story
Campaigns to encourage travelers to share their travel experiences and stories live on
social media and brand platform to increase engagement and brand awareness.
FOR JOB OFFERS & QUESTIONS?
Mail me at
shiriishbohare@gmail.com
 Credits
Data Source:
- Google Report_Understanding the Indian Hotel buyers
- Tracxn_Travel _
India_Report_Feb_ 2015
- India Tourism Statistics at a Glance 2014

Special thanks to Jayden Smith for sharing the template

✘ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
✘ Photographs by Unsplash