A new Indian travel search engine, ixigo aims to furnish the huge Indian travel market with the best deals in airlines, hotels and other activities. India’s megabillion travel market is all the more attractive because 95% of web transactions begun online are fulfilled online! (compared to 3% for China).
Another pioneer of travel search, sweetfare.com is looking to get a slice of the action by providing access to real-time rates and itineraries from the world’s largest pool of airlines and low-cost carriers (including Indian price warriors like Spicejet and Jetairways).
India’s online travel market is fast absorbing the trends from other advanced marketplaces. Will user-generated travel content take off in India too? Not far-fetched because sharing, collaboration, communities, forums and like stuff appeal to most Indians and the globe-trotting, tech-savvy, educated workforce is happy hunting ground for new, breakaway concepts!