| Travel portals are increasingly catching the fancy of private equity (PE) players what with investments in this fast emerging business segment registering a 100 per cent jump. |
| Industry analysts point out that PE investments in travel portals touched Rs 180 crore in 2006 against Rs 90 crore in 2005. Meanwhile, individual investments have also doubled to Rs 300 crore from Rs 150 crore in the past one year. |
| “But that is not all. In the next two years, the online travel portals will invite a PE investment of Rs 200 crore. Today, the online travel market is pegged at Rs 4,000 crore and by 2008, it is estimated to be a Rs 10,000 crore market,” they said. |
| In fact, a host of international online travel companies like Expedia, Tripper and Travelgenie have India on their agenda and are gearing up to explore the travel market. |
| Factors like growing economy, robust domestic, outbound and inbound travel, low-cost airlines and increased understanding and growth of e-purchasing have helped create an ideal platform for the growth of travel portals in the country. |
| For instance, travel portal Travelguru.com recently received its second round of funding of Rs 69 crore ($15 million) from Seqouia capital and Battery Ventures. |
| Another travel portal Makemytrip.com also got its second round of funding of Rs 55 crore ($12 million) from Helion Ventures, Sierra Ventures and SAIF partners. |
| Other portals like Cleartrip.com, Yatraonline.com and Travelocity.com have announced plans for launching their India-specific online travel companies with an investment of Rs 50 crore each. |
| Indo Asia Tours is investing Rs 10 crore and expects a business of Rs 50 crore in three-years with a break-even in 18 months. |
| Stic Travels is spending Rs 30 lakh and Travel House will be investing Rs 1 crore on its portal. |
| Makemytrip.com Founder Chief Executive Officer Deep Kalra said, “Today, we are just half way through in terms of investments. There is a big market and though it would invite good number of players, only few would make it to the top.” Makemytrip.com pegs its top line growth at Rs 560 crore by March. |
| Another industry analyst said online travel bookings will corner 30 per cent of the travel trade in India by 2011 compared with less than 2 per cent today. |
| Globally, online travel market is expected to corner 28 per cent of the total travel trade by 2007, with total sales of $25.6 billion. This will be a growth of 112 per cent from 2004. |
Source : Business Standard