Gone are the days when taking a holiday meant contacting a travel agent and getting itineraries planned by paying almost double the actual cost of travel. With destinations, tickets, hotels-homestays-resorts all available online, going on a trip, be it to the nearest hill station, or to a fancy international island, has never been easier.
But despite the rise in DIY (do-it-yourself) travel that often includes cashing in on last-minute deals, the start-up sector has witnessed a surge in travel start-ups looking to gain a foothold.
Will start-ups really thrive in such a market? The travel sector is majorly dominated by a few big players with deep pockets, making it tougher for newer players to enter and grow in the segment. A start-up without a clear differentiation strategy and an ability to explain its value proposition can struggle to stay afloat. Entrepreneurs say that in the fast-growing Indian travel market, which is slated to reach $40 billion by 2020 (with online accounting for 40-50% of the transactions), start-ups need high-quality content, virtual reality, should use machine learning to automate various travel-related processes and smart travel technology to solve travel-problems.
Says Viren Batra, co-founder and CEO of Nirvana Excursions, "Artificial Intelligence (AI) needs to be utilised as it helps travel companies create tailored offers based on customer needs. Past behaviour on the online portal, social media integration are few of the many mediums in use to gauge the customer's exact needs. By doing so, the ultra-personalised offers that AI helps create aids in enhancing conversion rates and improving the traveller's experience. Alongside AI, Big Data Analytics also aids companies in decision-making, predictive maintenance and handling disruptions."
Says Yogi Shah, co-founder, The Backpacker Co that organises backpacking trips overseas, "One has to solve various difficulties of the traveller and start-ups that cater to this requirement will be successful."
Experts state that if internet was the defining factor in the disruption of the offline travel market, Big Data and AI look to be the next phase of disruption. "Until now, online travel needed human intelligence to perform tasks. But the kind of evolution computation is seeing, we are gradually inching towards a new level of automation requiring little or no supervision," says Batra.
Vikram Ahuja, founder of Byond Travel, says the start-up plans to leverage technology to drive innovations such as virtual reality (in travel) and machine learning to build chatbots which automate the sales process and make it easier to access the right information. "We are creating high-engagement video-first content which drives awareness and inspirations to increase the pool of interest-based travel. Our virtual reality experiences immerse potential travellers in a destination and is a high engagement content format," says Ahuja, adding that Byond Travel plans to build India's largest portfolio of virtual reality content.
According to Shah, The Backpacker Co, which mainly caters to solo travellers looking to travel abroad, will be increasing its presence online and building an app to connect potential solo travellers.
...& ANALYSIS
- Domination by a few big players makes it tougher for newer players to grow in the Indian travel segment
- In the fast-growing travel market, start-ups need smart travel technology to solve travel-problems
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