BENGALURU
Travel website Yatra Online Pvt. Ltd is revamping its mobile phone product, offering new services such as bus and hotel bookings as it seeks to boost non-airline sales to about half of its business.
Yatra, Makemytrip.com and other online travel sites, which get more than half their business from flight tickets, have increased hotel bookings over the past 18 months as rising fares have hurt demand for air travel.
The focus on diversifying away from flight tickets increased after Kingfisher Airlines Ltd was grounded last year.
Within 18 months, Yatra expects to get about 50% of its business from the non-airline segments, compared with less than 35% currently, president Sharat Dhall said in an interview.
The company, the investors of which include the TV18 Group, Norwest Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Reliance Venture Asset Management Ltd, will offer bookings for bus tickets and car rentals before the end of the year, he said.
Full report here Mint
