PROJECT REPORT

ON
STUDY OF MARKETING STRATEGIES OF MAKE MY
TRIP
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Award of the degree of
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
(BANKING & INSURANCE)
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

DR. SARAH AHTESHAM

FACULTY, VIPS

Submitted By-
DHAIRYA SACHDEVA
Enrollment no.- 00917701817
(2017-20)

Vivekanand School of Business Studies

Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies
AU Block (Outer Ring Road) Pitampura
Delhi - 110034
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 Table of Contents

Student declaration………………………………………………………...iii

Certificate from Guide……………………………………………………. iv

Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………v

Company Profile…………………………………………….…………….vi

Chapter Scheme……………………………………………………………

- Chapter 1(Introduction)………………………………….…………Pg-10

- Chapter 2(Conceptual Review) ……………………………….... Pg-13

- (Marketing strategies of Make my trip) ...…………………Pg-41

- Chapter 3(Research Methodology) ……………………………Pg-46

- Chapter 4(Analysis & Findings) …………………………………. Pg-50

- Chapter 5(Conclusion)………………………………………………Pg-65

Bibliography……………………………………………………………….76

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 STUDENT UNDERTAKING

This is to certify that I have completed the Project titled ”study of marketing strategies of

make my trip” under the guidance of “DR. SARAH AHTESHAM” in partial fulfillment of

the requirement for the award of degree of Bachelor of Business Administration (Banking

& Insurance) at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Vivekananda School of

Business Studies, New Delhi. This is an original piece of work and has not been submitted

elsewhere.

STUDENT NAME- DHAIRYA SACHDEVA

STUDENT SIGNATURE

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 Certificate from Faculty Guide

This is to certify that the project titled “study of marketing strategies of make my trip” is an

academic work done by “DHAIRYA SACHDEVA” submitted in the

partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Business

Administration (Banking & Insurance) from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies,

Vivekananda School of Business Studies, New Delhi., under my guidance & direction. To

the best of my knowledge and belief the data & information presented by him/her in the

project has not been submitted earlier.

Name of the Faculty Guide- DR. SARAH AHTESHAM

Signatures

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I offer my sincere thanks and humble regards to VIVEKANANDA INSTITUTE OF

PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, GGSIP University, New Delhi for imparting us very valuable
professional training in BBA.

I pay my gratitude and sincere regards to “DR. SARAH AHTESHAM”, my project Guide
for giving me the cream of her knowledge. I am thankful to her as she has been a constant
source of advice, motivation and inspiration. I am also thankful to her for giving me
suggestions and
encouragement throughout the project work.

I take the opportunity to express my gratitude and thanks to our computer Lab staff and
library
staff for providing me opportunity to utilize their resources for the completion of the project.

Name: Dhairya Sachdeva

Enrollment No: 00917701817
Class & Section- BBA (B&I)

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 COMPANY PROFILE

MakeMyTrip is a Indian online travel company founded in 2000. It was headquartered

in Gurugram, Haryana. The company provides online travel services including flight tickets,
domestic and international holiday packages, hotel reservations, rail and bus tickets, etc. The
company has been recognized as one of India's best travel portals. The company also operates
through 65 retail stores across 50 cities in India, along with offices in New York City and
Sydney. MakeMyTrip holds close to 25% market share of the OTA hotel booking segment.

Nurtured from the seed of a single great idea - to empower the traveler - MakeMyTrip went
on to pioneer the entire online travel industry in India. MakeMyTrip has revolutionized the
travel industry over the years. Created to empower the Indian traveler with instant booking
and comprehensive choices, the company began its journey in the US-India travel market. It
aimed to offer a range of best-value products and services along with cutting-edge technology
and dedicated round-the-clock customer support.

After consolidating its position in the market as a brand recognized for its reliability and
transparency, MakeMyTrip followed its success in the US by launching its India operations
in 2005. With the foresight to seize the opportunities in the domestic travel market, brought
on by a slew of new airlines, MakeMyTrip offered travelers the convenience of online travel
bookings at rock-bottom prices. Rapidly, MakeMyTrip became the preferred choice of
millions of travelers who were delighted to be empowered by a few mouse clicks!

MakeMyTrip’s rise has been lead by the vision and the spirit of each one of its employees,
for whom no idea was too big and no problem too difficult. With untiring innovation and
determination, MakeMyTrip proactively began to diversify its product offering, adding a
variety of online and offline products and services. MakeMyTrip also stayed ahead of the
curve by continually evolving its technology to meet the ever changing demands of the
rapidly developing global travel market.

Steadily establishing itself across India and the world, MakeMyTrip simultaneously nurtured
the growth of its offline businesses like its franchises and affiliates simultaneously,
augmenting the brand’s already strong retail presence further.

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Today, MakeMyTrip is much more than just a travel portal or a famous pioneering brand - it
is a one-stop-travel-shop that offers the broadest selection of travel products and services in
India. MakeMyTrip is the dominant market-leader with 47% market-share (PhocusWright,
2013), a fact evinced by the trust placed in it by millions of happy customers.

Remaining reliable, efficient and at the forefront of technology, MakeMyTrip’s commitment

and customer-centricity allows it to better understand and provide for its customers’ diverse
needs and wants and deliver consistently. With dedicated 24x7 customer support and offices
in 20 cities across India and 2 international offices in New York and San Francisco (in
addition to several franchise locations), MakeMyTrip is there for you, whenever and
wherever.

You are welcome to write to the Management with feedback about our services by signing
in to our My Complaints section.
MakeMyTrip’s Products:
• International and Domestic Air Tickets, Holiday Packages and Hotels
• Domestic Bus and Rail Tickets
• Private Car and Taxi Rentals
• B2B and Affiliate Services

MakeMyTrip has been helpful in changing the way India travels. With the widespread
adoption of Online Travel, it was imperative for us as the category leader to unearth a deep-
rooted customer motivation and strengthen our association with customers.

The new-age traveler is seeking choice through multiplicity of options. We are cognizant of
the importance of range and choice for today’s travelers and our new brand positioning is a
clear acknowledgment of this reality. Our new TVC, ‘Dil Toh Roaming hai’, showcases how
each one of us has a wandering heart with many latent travel desires. MakeMyTrip as the co
– conspirator seeks to inspire consumers to give wings to their growing travel ambition. This
will not only expand the travel category, but also catalyze the offline-to-online shift. The
campaign has been conceptualized with the objective to strengthen the brand’s connect
amongst existing travellers and drive its adoption among new consumers. Through this brand
repositioning exercise and the new tag-line ‘Dil Toh Roaming Hai’, MakeMyTrip intends to
be travel partner that fuels the growing travel ambition of customers at large. In other words,
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our new campaign is aimed at encouraging people to give in to their latent travel desires while
MakeMyTrip makes the entire researching, planning and buying experience convenient and
personalized through its suite of solutions (such as Route planner, Do It Yourself Holidays
and mobile app), content (blogs, reviews and testimonials) and offerings (hotels, direct
charters, holidays). The campaign will establish MMT from being a provider to a
knowledgeable and inspiring partner. MMT believes that consumers harbor many holiday
ambitions in their hearts. The brand wants to expand the concept of travel beyond a once-a-
year family activity by nudging less-frequent travelers to give into their hearts’ wanderlust.

Over the years, the company has attained its leadership by achieving strong growth in all core
business segments. We have witnessed healthy growth for our Holiday business for travel
within India and internationally. From a Hotel customer’s online experience standpoint, we
have improved the speed of the shopping experience by reducing data entry where ever
possible. We have also invested in enriching the customer’s online hotel & holiday research
and purchase experience and we are witnessing results in terms of increased engagement and
transactions. On the mobile front, we have enhanced the hotel booking experience by adding
‘Instabook’, a fast and painless payments feature initially launched for our flights business.
Additionally, we are also utilizing the GPS coordinates from mobile devices to provide
smarter and more targeted hotel deals notifications.

When we did our IPO (initial public offering), about 85 per cent of our revenue came from
air ticketing. In FY 2016, Hotels & Packages (H&P) represented 40% of our overall net
revenue (while air-ticketing share was 58%). In first half 2015, this share stood at 45% while
share of air-ticketing revenues was 51%. So, we are progressing well on our stated objective
of optimizing our revenue-mix.

We continue to invest in Hotels & Packages business. At 200,000+ listings, we have the
largest inventory of global hotels among OTAs in India. We strengthened our portfolio of
Hotel offerings in the South-East Asia region through two key acquisitions in 2013 - Hotel
Travel Group and the ITC Group in Thailand. With the acquisition of Easytobook.com in
2014, we expanded our presence beyond South-East Asia. More recently, we acquired certain
assets of Mygola.com to focus on cutting-edge innovation in online travel. This acquisition

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has been done through the company’s earlier announced Innovation Fund which has been
formed to invest in start-up or early-stage companies in the travel technology space. Through
this innovation fund, in the year 2014 MakeMyTrip bought a 25% stake in Bangalore based
digital hotel marketing solutions firm Simplotel.

Mobile will continue to drive the growth of the OTA industry. Mobile bookings will soon
overtake bookings through other devices. SMS/messaging-platform based booking services
are taking off in China, and perhaps a developer or entrepreneur will find a way to create a
market for this in India. Wearable Technology will enhance the traveller experience, enabling
them to find “just-in-time” deals and handy information when they land in a city.

At MakeMyTrip, one of our key priorities is to build products that simplify travel for our
customers. Constant innovation in terms of technology and products is a big focus area. As
the coming years shape up, we will continue to innovate with our packages basis customer
feedback and market research.

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 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION:
E-Commerce has unleashed yet another revolution, which is changing the way businesses
buy and sell products and services. . E-commerce stands for electronic commerce and pertains
to trading in goods and services through the electronic medium. India is showing tremendous
growth in the Ecommerce. The low cost of the PC and the growing use of the Internet is one
of reasons for that. There is a growing awareness among the business community in India
about the opportunities offered by eCommerce. The future does look very bright for e-
commerce in India with even the stock exchanges coming online providing a online stock
portfolio and status with a fifteen minute delay in prices. . In the next 3 to 5 years, India will
have 30 to 70 million Internet users which will equal, if not surpass, many of the developed
countries.
According to a recent study, nearly 80 per cent of Indians in metros prefer to use online travel
portals to plan their holidays. The study done by research company The Nielsen found that
34 per cent of Indians book airline tickets, 17 per cent book hotels and holiday packages
while 14 per cent book train tickets using these sites.
Travel portals like Yatra, MakeMyTrip and Travel Guru are the strongest players in the
business. Given the growing penetration of the Internet in India, online travel agents are
becoming increasingly popular among Indians. Consumers also find it quite convenient to
book their tickets and plan holidays using these sites as it saves them time and efforts
compared to other forms of bookings. It is interesting to note that online travel sites are surfed
by a majority of people even if they don't end up booking from the site. Around 77 per cent
of Internet-connected people use these sites to search for airline information, 65 per cent use
the sites to search for train information, 59 per cent for hotel and 57 per cent for information
on holidays. The online travel agents have garnered a significant share of the airline ticket
booking, considerably higher than even the company website of the airlines. The main
alternatives to online travel agents include traditional travel agents/tour operators, booking
offices of hotels, and railway website for train booking.

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E-COMMERCE:

As a symbol of globalization and in many ways its leading feature, e-commerce represents
the cutting edge of success in this digital age. E-commerce stands for electronic commerce
and pertains to trading in goods and services through the electronic medium, i.e. the Internet
or phone. On the Internet, it pertains to a website, which sells products or services directly
from the site using a shopping cart or shopping basket system and allows credit card
payments. It involves conducting business with the help of the electronic media, making use
of the information technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). In simple words,
Electronic commerce involves buying and selling of goods and services over the World Wide
Web. Customers can purchase anything right from a car or a cake sitting comfortably in his
room and gift it to someone sitting miles apart just by click of a mouse.

E-commerce is a subject which researches how to use electronic and information technology
to promote the traditional business process to change profoundly. The subject is still at its
infant age and is fast developing. Its theoretical system is still being constructed and
perfected.

Today E-commerce is a byword in Indian society and it has become an integral part of our
daily life. There are websites providing any number of goods and services. Then there are
those, which provide a specific product along with its allied services
Multi-product e-commerce- These Indian E-commerce portals provide goods and services in
a variety of categories. To name a few: Apparel and accessories for men and women, Health
and beauty products, Books and magazines, Computers and peripherals, Vehicles, Software,
Consumer electronics, Household appliances, Jewellery, Audio/video, entertainment, goods,
Gift articles, Real estate and services Single-product e-commerce.

Some Indian portals/websites deal in a specialized field, for example:

1) Automobiles- On these sites we can buy and sell four-wheelers and two-wheelers,
new as well as used vehicles, online. Some of the services they provide are: Car research and
reviews, Online evaluation, Technical specifications, Vehicle Insurance, Vehicle Finance.

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2) Stocks and shares and e-commerce- In India today, we can even deal in stocks and
shares through e-commerce. Some of the services offered to registered members are: Online
buying/selling of stocks and shares, Market analysis and research, Company information,
Comparison of companies, Research on Equity and Mutual Funds.
3) Real estate and e-commerce- They provide information on new properties as well as
properties for resale. One can deal directly with developer through consultant. Allied
services: Housing Finance, Insurance companies, Architects & Interior Designers, NRI
services, Packers & Movers.
4) Travel & tourism and e-commerce- India has a rich history and heritage and e-
commerce is instrumental, to a large extent, in selling India as a product, encouraging
Indians as well as foreigners to see its multifaceted culture and beauty. The tourist
destination sites are categorized according to themes like: Adventure -trekking,
mountain climbing etc, Eco-Themes pertains to jungles, flora and fauna.
5) Gifts and e-commerce- In the bygone days, one had to plan what to gift a loved one,
trudge across to your favorite shop, and browse for hours before purchasing a gift. The
gifts are categorized as: Collectibles like paintings and sculptures, Luxury items like
leather goods, perfumes, jewellery boxes, etc, household curios and carpets, etc, Toys
& games, Chocolates, Flowers, Woodcraft & metal-craft.
6) Hobbies and e-commerce- The most popular hobbies from time immemorial are
reading, music and films. The book’s cover a wide range of topics like Business, Art,
Cookery, Engineering, Children's Stories, Health, Medicine, Biographies, Horror,
Home & Garden, etc.
7) Matrimony and E- commerce- It is said that marriages are made in heaven, but in the
world of E-commerce they are made on marriage portals One can search for a suitable
match on their websites by region of residence (India or abroad), religion or caste.
Allied services for registered members: Astrological services, Information on Customs
and Rituals, Legal issues, Health & Beauty, Fashion & Style, Wedding Planners.
8) Employment and e-commerce- Two major portals like www.Monsterindia.com and
www.naukri.com (meaning job.com in Hindi) are instrumental in providing job seekers
with suitable employment at the click of a mouse. The service for job seekers is free

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 and for Employers they charge a nominal fee. Jobs are available online in fields ranging
from secretarial to software development, and from real estate to education.

CHAPTER-2

CONCEPTUAL REVIEW

Internet has created a new world beyond the real world—a “virtual network world”. E-
commerce brought about by Internet is one of the most significant scientific
accomplishments. In business, the prosperous e-commerce technology gives rise to a
revolution in the circulation system. It breaks the boundary of time and space, alters the trade
pattern, improves the circulation of merchandize, capital and information, and makes
enterprises have an edge over others as well by reducing the cost of production effectively.
In short, e-commerce has enabled the traditional business to achieve greater, faster, better
and more economical results. The influence of the e-commerce will go beyond the business
activity. It will make a profound impact on each aspect of human society, such as production
and employment, government function, working talent, law systems and education etc. It
permeates into every profile: industries, logistics, finance, media, governments, enterprises,
research organizations and even traditional agricultures. With the development of the e-
commerce, it will influence and impact to a larger extent every aspect of our society with
each passing day. A new economic revolution on the basis of digitalization and Internet has
set in. We can say without exaggeration that the electronic commerce is the most significant
industrial revolution since Industrial Revolution, with deeper influence on mankind than the
former two industrial revolutions, because it not only can raise greatly productivity,
efficiency of economic operations, lower the economy operation cost, and make many
originally impossible things possible, but also influence people’s life styles and every social
aspect and therefore change their world outlook and methodology.
E-commerce is the necessity of international business, vice verse, international business
boosts e-commerce. The development of computer science and communications sciences has
laid a solid foundation for e-commerce. The development of information security makes e-
commerce proceed in a secure way; the laws concerning this field also provide legal
guarantees for e-commerce.

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Phase One: E-commerce based on EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) EDI (Electronic Data
Interchange): The EDI originated in the 60s of the 20th century. The large-scaled business
enterprise in the developed countries carried out the EDI basically in the 80s. The EDI of our
country began from the 80s in 20 centuries. EDI is a kind of teleportation method to transmit
business documents from one computer to another. Because EDI reduces the paper note
greatly, people vividly call it as “trade without paper” or “bargain without paper”. From the
perspective of technology, the EDI includes both hardware (mainly the network) and
software (mainly software and standard of EDI). For the sake of safety, most EDI were not
transmitted by network until the 90s of 20c, but by VAN (the value-Added Network) of
exclusive use. What EDI needs is a standard software to translate information in the customer
databases into the EDI-standard so as to deliver. Because the business enterprise of different
professions adopt different format on the basis of their own business characteristics, therefore
when transmitting documents, they must be translated into the EDI standard format. Before
EDI, the primary stage of e-commerce, becomes universal in India, electronic commerce has
developed quickly to the second stage.
Phase Two: E-commerce based on Internet EDI enjoys advantages and tremendous strength
in decreasing the intensity, mistakes and cost to make and handle documents on the one hand,
and in improving efficiency to a large extent on the other hand. Therefore, it speeds up the
development of international business. However, the high cost of VAN and EDI
communication system hinder the expansion of e-commerce based on EDI. Moreover, EDI
is only suitable for large-scaled transnational corporation rather than medium and small-sized
ones, for it does not take information share into account. Since both the increasing large-
scaled transnational corporations and many a medium and small-sized enterprise thirst for
information sharing, the establishment of a new electronic information exchange system of
low cost is on the agenda to realize the information sharing.
In the middle and late 90s of the 20th Century, owing to the prompt popularity of Internet,
from universities to enterprises, and then even to common people’s families, Internet
functions from the information sharing to a popular mass media. After 1991, business that
has always been outside of Internet came into the realm and made e-commerce a big hit in
Internet, which gives impetus to the rapid development of Internet. Many enterprises made a
big success by online direct marketing such as Dell Company, distinguished for direct online
selling, online book store Amazon, Yahoo Internet search engine, rediff, yahoo and Ebay.
Such websites were up to 424,000 in 1998, comparatively only 2,000 in 1995. By 2001,
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Internet has become the largest network in the world and covered up to 150 areas and
countries, linking more than 25,000 networks and 520,000 mainframe computers. Vint Cerf,
“Father of Intel” predicted in 1996 that there would be a hundred million Internet users by
2003. However, he was shocked by the flourisher of Internet, with 150,000,000 Internet users
by the end of 1999, trice than that of 1997.
The reason why e-commerce based on Internet is so attractive to enterprises is that e-
commerce enjoys several evident advantages over e-commerce based on EDI:
• Low in cost. The expense of Internet is low, no more than 1/10 of VAN in general.
• Wide in overlaying. Internet spreads all over the world, by which trade partners can
conveniently send commercial information and documents with common telephone
wires.
• Complete in function. Internet can help different users to carry out their targets of
different levels, such as issuing electronic commercial information negotiating on line
and setting up virtual department stores and online banks etc.
• Flexible in use. E-commerce based on Internet is not confined to agreement of special
data exchange. Any commercial document can be formed by filing the screen documents
that are identical with the current paper documents. Such documents can be understood
and used directly by anyone without any translation.
Internet meets the demands of medium and small-sized enterprises to exchange electronic
data by overcoming the shortage of EDI. Internet, lower in cost, wider in coverage and better
in service, will certainly replace VAN as the hardware carrier of EDI. Electronic information
exchange system with the characteristics of being both lower in cost and able to share
information makes itself popular among all enterprises. EDI based on Internet enjoys the
advantages of both EDI and Internet, therefore, EDI realized by means of Internet is directly
called as “Internet EDI”.
In e-commerce based on Internet, at first, people mainly make daily “business
correspondences” by e-mails, and then release information by Internet.

Phase Three: E-concept e-commerce

Since early 2000, people’s understanding has developed from e-commerce to higher e-
concept e-commerce, and it is realized that e-commerce is in fact the combination of
information technology and commerce applications. Apart from business, electronic

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information technology can be applied in many other fields, such as medical treatment,
education, hygiene, military, administration and so on, to form e-concept in the fields. For
instance, electronic education—remote education, the combination of electronic information
technology and education; electronic treatment—remote treatment, the combination of
technology and treatment; electronic administration, the combination of technology and
administration; electronic command - the combination of technology and command; online
banks, the combination of technology and finance; virtual enterprises, the combination of
technology and business organizations and so forth. Various patterns of e-commerce such as
E-B, E-C, E-G etc., have come into being by applying e-concept. With the development of
electronic information technology and the increasing need of the society, more and more e-
concepts will emerge and the genuine e-times will advene.

Figure: Components of e-commerce

PAYMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR E-COMMERCE

Payment technology is an important part of the capital flow in the development of e-
commerce. Its development determines the fate of e-commerce directly. In the context of
international e-commerce operation, how to utilize relevant electronic payment technologies
is the key of realizing online purchase and real-time payment. The keys in this section include
the functions and features of online banks, e-payment system, e-cash, e-check and e-wallet.

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In the new century, e-payment technology will change the way we live and trade. E-payment
system is being applied all over the world and has achieved tremendous success. With the
wide spread of e-money, e-payment has become a new development area. In the information
era, e-payment will definitely enter every common family.
Online Bank
Online bank, also called network bank, e-bank, virtual bank, is actually the extension of bank
business on the network. Online bank is based on the fast development of computer and
network communication technologies. It uses the Internet that covers every corner of the
world, makes a breakthrough in the traditional bank business, and gives up the traditional
service that begins from the service hall. This new online bank includes home virtual bank,
virtual finance, and the virtual financial world, which almost covers all the business of current
bank and finance industry. And it represents the future of the finance industry. Nowadays
online banks exist in two forms. One is totally based on the Internet. This type of bank carries
out all operations via the Internet, such as Security First Network Bank (SFNB). The other
one develops the operations through the Internet on the basis of current business banks by
opening electronic service windows online, which is called the e-bank system based on
traditional banks. The online banks in our country belong to the latter one. From the day that
online banks were born in the US, online banks have been developing rapidly. Now there are
thousands of financial organizations in Europe alone that do the online banking business.
The Function of Online Bank
Judged from the current operation of online banks, the services provided by online banks can
be divided into three categories: first, to provide real-time query, such as balance, currency
quotation, gold price and interest of deposit; second, conduct general banking transactions,
such as client relation, saving, transfer between deposit accounts, applying for checkbooks;
third, handle the procedure of online transactions. The services include the following types:
(1) Basic check business
(2) Interest check account
(3) Credit card service
(4) Basic deposit account
(5) Money market account
(6) Deposit receipt
(7) Macro market financial information service

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Online banking not only carries out some traditional commercial banking transactions, but
also has very important online payment function, and some new domains of services.
Payment Gateway
A payment gateway is software that supports multiple payment models simultaneously in a
safe and secure manner.
Funds can be transferred through credit, debit and smart cards, cheques, electronic payment
wallets and even direct debits through a central payment switch.
Put simply, a payment gateway enables on-line commercial transactions on the internet on a
secure system, which have firewalls against hacking.
E-payment Tools
Online financial service is a part of e-commerce, which has already been provided all over
the world. Online financial service includes online purchase, home banking, personal
financing, online investment and online insurance. These financial services are characterized
by timely electronic payment and settlement through online payment tools. In its broad sense,
online payment is a kind of money exchange occurring on line. Now users can see all kinds
of products/services through the Internet. The online payment is developed on the basis of
paying means, such as credit card, e-check, digital cash and intelligent card, which may be
extensively accepted by customers, businessmen and banks. Since the payment is carried out
on line, the payment information is subject to hacker attack, so the security of payment tools
has to be guaranteed. E-payment is a vital part of e-commerce. The advantage of e-commerce,
compared with that of traditional commerce is becoming the driving force that stimulates
more and more vendors and people to make online purchase and other consumptions. But
how to securely perform transactions online is the top priority people have to consider when
they decide an online transaction.’’
E-payment System
As more and more companies are planning to bring their business into a new era of e-
commerce, the payment issue is becoming very prominent: how to solve the payment
problem in e-commerce all over the world? How to deal with millions of payment problems
generated everyday by the network? The answer is e-payment. E-payment is defined as
follows: the parties of e-transaction, including customers, vendors and financial institutions,
use secure and electronic means to make payment or money circulation. Compared with
traditional payment means, e-payment has the following features:

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(1) E-payment introduces digital circulation to realize information transmission, so all means
of e-payment are all digitalized; but traditional payment is realized through physical
circulation such as cash circulation, bill transfer and bank exchange.
(2) The working environment of e-payment is based on an open system platform (namely,
the Internet); while traditional payment is operated in a relatively closed system.
(3) E-payment uses the most advanced communication means, such as the Internet and
extranet, while traditional payment uses traditional communication media. E-payment has a
very high requirement for both software and hardware facilities, generally including online
terminals, relevant software and some other supporting facilities; while traditional payment
does not have such a high requirement.
(4) E-payment enjoys advantages for it is convenient, fast, efficient and economic. As long
as the user has a computer connecting to the Internet, he will be able to stay indoors and
complete the whole payment within a very short time. The cost is even less than one percent
of that of the traditional way.
E-payment is based on electronic financial network, and uses various apparatus and cards as
media, computer and communication technologies as means to realize circulation and
payment by making use of binary data stored in the bank computer systems. From the
definition above we can conclude that e-payment has the following
features:
(1) Supported by computer technologies, it realizes storage, payment and circulation.
(2) Multiple functions are integrated together, including deposit, loan and non-cash
settlement.
(3) It is widely applied to such areas as production, exchange, distribution and consumption.
(4) It is simple, secure, fast and reliable.
(5) E-payment is usually accomplished through exclusive network for banks.
There are five forms to carry out e-payment, representing the five different phases in the
development of e-payment.
First: the bank uses computers to process the business and settlement between banks;
Second: the computers of the bank make settlement with other organizations, such as paying
salaries;
Third: network terminals are used to provide banking services for clients, for example,
clients could withdraw and deposit money on ATM;

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Fourth: POS terminals are used to provide automatic deduction services for clients, which
are the principal means of e-payment nowadays;
Fifth: it is the latest phase, in which e-payment enables direct transfer and settlement through
network at any place and any time, thus bringing into existence of e-commerce environment.
This is a developing phase, which will also be the principal means of e-payment in this
century. E-payment in this phase is also called online payment, and the online payment tools
include credit card, digital cash, e-check and intelligent card.
E-payment, based on the network of electronic finance, has made full use of digital devices
for commerce, various transaction cards for trade and computer and communication
technologies to realize the circulation and payment by transferring digital information stored
in the computer network system. The following section focuses on the function, structure and
development of online banks, and then introduces the primary tools and technologies in e-
payment, including e-payment system, e-cash and e-wallet.
Compared with traditional payment mode, e-payment has the following features:
(1) E-payment accomplishes information transmission with digital circulation, and all means
of payment are digitalized.
(2) The working environment is based on an open system platform while traditional payment
is functioning in a relatively closed system.
(3) E-payment uses the most advanced communication methods, such as the Internet and
extranet, while traditional payment uses traditional communication media. E-payment has a
very high requirement for both software and hardware facilities, generally including online
terminals, relevant software and some other supporting facilities; while traditional payment
does not have such a high requirement.
(4) E-payment enjoys advantages for it is convenient, fast, efficient and economic. As long
as the user has to own a computer connecting to the Internet, he will be able to stay indoors
and complete the whole payment within a very short time. The cost is even less than one
percent of that of the traditional way.
Risk of Gateways:
• Currently, in India – HDFC Bank and ICICI – have launched payment gateways for
business to customer (B2C) transactions.
• Payments can be effected through credit cards or through directly debiting the account of
the customers of the respective banks.

20
• Some payment mechanisms on the Internet are not safe, as they are in the open-loop
where a merchant portal can see the credit card number.
• This is unsafe for credit card holder and is susceptible to fraud as his number can be
physically seen.
• The dust is yet to settle in the B2C payment gateways, but action is already heating up in
the business to business (B2B) arena.
• Besides HDFC Bank and ICICI, Global Tele-System and a few other non-bank
companies are toying the idea of launching payment gateways for inter bank and B2B
transactions.
• No prizes for guessing who they are targeting, Nationalized banks, of course.

Steps by RBI to improve eCommerce Transactions

• Issue appropriate instruments (cards) to facilitate online payments: For example, all
debit cards are ATM cards, but all ATM cards are not debit cards. Additionally, there
are some co-operative banks offering internet banking facilities. This facility is
mostly for checking account balance, and this should be extended to online
transactions as well.

• Take steps to improve debit and credit card penetration. RBI should specify a time
frame to banks to issue credit cards, debit cum ATM cards.

• Improving the network connectivity of ATMs: Users can use one bank’s ATM card
for holding transactions with another bank because these ATMs are connected to
BANKS ATM network. Several banks still need to be connected to this network. RBI
should facilitate to expedite this connectivity.

• Improving payment gateway infrastructure: There is a need to improve payment

gateway infrastructure in the country. The payment gateways should accept all credit
cards, debit cards, and internet banking facilities that all banks are offering. RBI
should provide a mandate to the payment gateways to integrate such services of any
new bank within some stipulated duration of the new bank operations going live.

21
 E-COMMERCE IN TRAVEL INDUSTRY

Tourism 2020 Vision is the World Tourism Organization’s long-term forecast and assessment
of the development of tourism up to the first 20 years of the new millennium. An essential
outcome of the Tourism 2020 Vision is quantitative forecasts covering a 25 years period, with
1995 as base year and forecasts for 2010 and 2020. Although the evolution of tourism in the
last few years has been irregular, UNWTO maintains its long term forecast for the moment.
The underlying structural trends of the forecast are believed not to have significantly
changed. Experience shows that in the short-term, periods of faster growth (1995, 1996, and
2000) alternate with periods of slow growth (2001 to 2003). While the pace of growth till
2000 actually exceeded the Tourism 2020 Vision forecast, it is generally expected that the
current slowdown will be compensated in the mid- to long-term.

Figure: International Tourist Arrivals, 1950-2020

Source – World Trade Organization- UNWTO

UNWTO’s Tourism 2020 Vision forecasts that international arrivals are expected to reach
nearly 1.6 billion by the year 2020. Of these worldwide arrivals in 2020, 1.2 billion will be
intraregional and 378 million will be long-haul travelers. The total tourist arrivals by region
shows that by 2020 the top three receiving regions will be Europe (717 million tourists), East
Asia and the Pacific (397 million) and Americas (282 million), followed by Africa, the
Middle East and South Asia. East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East and
Africa are forecasted to record growth at rates of over 5 per cent per year, compared to the
world average of 4.1 per cent. The more mature regions, Europe and Americas, are
anticipated to show lower than average growth rates. Europe will maintain the highest share

22
of world arrivals, although there will be a decline from 60 per cent in 1995 to 46 per cent in
2020. Long-haul travel worldwide will grow faster, at 5.4 per cent per year over the period
1995-2020, than intraregional travel, at 3.8 per cent. Consequently the ratio between
intraregional and long-haul travel will shift from around 82:18 in 1995 to close to 76:24 in
2020.

Holiday excitement begins right from the day the decision is made and often extends till long
after we return. But planning a trip, particularly making reservations was extremely tiring
and time-consuming process. Instead of running from pillar to post, from airline offices to
long queues at Railway booking counters or spending on STD calls for hotel reservations,
help is now available literally at our fingertips. As internet connectivity improves and people
become web-savvy they are increasingly favoring a totally new option to cater to their travel
needs, namely 'online travel portals'. The beauty of these portals is that they offer one-stop
travel solutions often at a bargain and all from the comfort of your home or office.

Indians have taken to traveling in a big way be it for leisure or work. Many are keen to explore
all parts of the country including the road less traveled. The Indian travel market stood at
USD 16 billion in 2007, which reached USD 26.1 billion by 2010.

The number of tickets booked through irctc.co.in, the Indian Railways' online ticket booking
facility, doubled from 917,000 tickets in April 2007 to 1,881,000 tickets in January 2008.

Online travel portals offer a huge bouquet of offerings that includes air/ rail bookings, travel
and hotel reservations, package deals and car hire just to name a few. Some prominent players
are Arzoo.com, ClearTrip.com, ezeego.com, irctc.co.in, MakeMyTrip.com and Yatra.com.

Other online travel portals like Rediff FareSearch, IXIgo.com and 90di.com/travel however
are search engines and do not undertake bookings. They offer comparative rates and direct
the user to the website of the concerned airline or Indian Railways for the actual booking.

Members of younger age groups are predominant users of these online travel portals. Mr
Murthy says customers of Cleartrip are between 20 to 40 years, mostly males, graduates,
working for medium to large companies in a metro city and earning Rs 5 lakh+.

The home page of every site gives an overview of all products the company has to offer. One
has to select the desired mode of travel and fill in the necessary details to get various options.

23
The sites vary in speed with which results are offered, simplicity of display and extent of
information. Some sites also offer a 'filter' option whereby one can sort the results by fare/
number of halts etc -- excellent to analyse several options.

An important point to remember is to check if the displayed prices include taxes and fees.
They could be displayed separately and any oversight can end up as a rude shock when
making the final payment.

Here it is important to check the refund rules for cancellation or modification. Most sites levy
an additional fee over and above the cancellation deduction by the airline. Ditto for any
changes in travel dates. Further, do check if such changes can be made online or not. Different
sites have different rules, time frames and mode of payment of refunds.

A message that says 'not available' does not necessarily mean that the chosen places are not
directly connected. You may find options at another site. In some instances prices applicable
to online bookings and telephonic bookings differ. Once the flight/ train is finalised, these
sites offer an opportunity to review the selection before a final payment is made.

Though it may sound like a lot of points and websites to check out, it is worth the time and
effort considering that we would be spending a large amount of hard earned money.

Having zeroed in on the best option, the next step is payment, which in most cases is by credit
card, though some also offer payment via net banking. Some portals also accept international
credit cards.

Developments in web security have made web transactions secure. Some portals also offer
telephonic bookings via their customer care centres. Yatra.com offers a cash pick-up on
delivery of tickets. Some portals offer bookings via SMS. Going further, some portals have
set up regular brick and mortar offices for those who are not net savvy, lack connectivity or
are skeptical of web-transactions.

Going beyond all these, quite a few online portals offer holidays based on themes like spa,
wellness, beaches, islands, luxury, family, adventure, pilgrimage etc, that have been very
well received. Also on offer is tourist information, shared experiences, travel blogs etc.

From time to time, these firms have special offers wherein travelers get extra benefits. They
are well advertised in other media to catch your eye! Most also have customer loyalty and
reward programmes and it could be profitable for frequent travelers to enroll for these.

24
While it is great that tickets can be booked from any corner of the country, currently the
limitation comes in when tickets have to be physically delivered after booking. The address
provided has to be of an area served by the allied courier service of the portal. If not, an
alternate address has to be provided.

Online travel portals continuously upgrade to offer better and more innovative deals for their
clients by tying up with airlines, credit card firms or hotels and pass on maximum savings to
people who book with them.

Indian Online Tourism Overview

It is not hidden that tourism is among India's important export industries. Even with
comparatively low levels of international tourist traffic, tourism has already emerged as an
important segment of the Indian economy. Tourism also contributed to the economy
indirectly through its linkages with other sectors like horticulture, agriculture, poultry,
handicrafts and construction.

Besides being an important foreign exchange earner, tourism industry also provides
employment to millions of people in India both directly and indirectly (through its linkage
with other sectors of the economy.) It is estimated that total direct employment in the tourism
sector is around 20 million.

India's tourism industry is thriving due to an increase in foreign tourists’ arrivals and greater
than before travel by Indians to domestic and abroad destinations. The visitors are pouring in
from all over the world: Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia. At the same time, the
number of Indians traveling has also increased. Some tourists come from Middle East
countries to witness the drenching monsoon rains in India, a phenomenon never seen in desert
climates.

Domestic tourists are also fueling the industry's revival. Many of them escape from the
summer heat on the plains to resorts in the Himalayan Mountains. One of the major
beneficiaries this year is Kashmir, where a cease-fire between India and Pakistan has reduced
violence, if not completely, at least enough to help revive the state's sagging tourism industry

The travel market in India is subject to a unique blend of forces driving growth in an online
channel that is projected to quadruple in just two years. Drivers on the supply side are
dovetailing with social and economic forces on the demand side to both boost online travel
adoption and enable India to leapfrog distribution technologies. The result is booming travel
25
demand and rapid uptake of online transaction methods.
As far in the future as the realization of this potential may sound, especially for a developing
nation, consider that the middle class of India is expected to exceed 100 million before the
end of the decade.

The nearly US$14 billion travel market in India presents massive online opportunities for
legacy and start-up travel companies. In a country with over 1 billion people, whose
population is projected to exceed that of China by 2045, the market potential ultimately
surpasses that of the US and Europe combined. As far off as this sounds, especially for a
developing nation, consider that the middle class of India is expected to exceed 100 million
before the end of the decade.

WHAT ARE MARKETING STRATEGIES:

A marketing strategy can serve as the foundation of a marketing plan. A marketing plan
contains a set of specific actions required to successfully implement a marketing strategy.
For example: "Use a low cost product to attract consumers. Once our organization, via our
low cost product, has established a relationship with consumers, our organization will sell
additional, higher-margin products and services that enhance the consumer's interaction with
the low-cost product or service."

A strategy consists of a well thought out series of tactics to make a marketing plan more
effective. Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning of marketing plans
designed to fill market needs and reach marketing objectives. Plans and objectives are
generally tested for measurable results.

A marketing strategy often integrates an organization's marketing goals, policies, and action
sequences (tactics) into a cohesive whole. Similarly, the various strands of the strategy, which
might include advertising, channel marketing, internet marketing, promotion and public
relations can be orchestrated. Many companies cascade a strategy throughout an
organization, by creating strategy tactics that then become strategy goals for the next level or
group. Each one group is expected to take that strategy goal and develop a set of tactics to
achieve that goal. This is why it is important to make each strategy goal measurable.
26
Marketing strategies are dynamic and interactive. They are partially planned and partially
unplanned. See strategy dynamics.

MEDIA PLAYS a significant role in our society in the present scenario. It is all around us,
from the shows we watch on television, the music we listen to on the radio, to the books and
magazines we read each day. Television, more than any of the other medias, achieves a
myriad different goals.

The mass media today encompasses newspapers, books, radio, television, cinema, the
Internet, email and fax. Although the use of the Internet and email seem to be recent
phenomena, the other media have co-existed for many decades. The CNN’s coverage of the
Operation Dessert Storm, the US led war to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991,
demonstrated the extensive reach of the electronic media. The coverage of the September 11,
2001 terrorist strikes and the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq are other such examples.

We live in a fascinating world and an even more fascinating society. In this day and age, life
without technology feels utterly impossible and life without the media is simply
unimaginable. Media provides us with entertainment, information and comfort. As the
standard of living in the country is rising, people find themselves investing in digital cables
and high speed Internet connections, thus increasing their exposure to such media as the
world wide web and the hundreds of new channels. While we all are intelligent people, with
the freedom and ability to make our own choices, I believe the role played by the media
counts more in taking decisions.

The media can be used for disseminating information and imparting education to the illiterate
masses. It can aid public involvement through advocating issues and transferring knowledge,
skills and techniques to the people. Awareness about the various rural development programs
could be spread by using the same.

Cinema too has a deep influence on the people. The audience tend to follow the mannerisms
of the lead stars, so the actors should not portray anything on screen which could have a
negative influence on the audience. Jackie Chan, the famous actor, portrays himself as a
teetotaller on the screen. This is because he is aware of his responsibility as a part of the
media. In India, at present, cinema is going through a phase of eroticism. Therefore, there is
a need to be keep it under vigil. An attempt was made to ban the film ‘Fire’ but the censor

27
upheld its earlier decision and passed it uncut. It should be left to the audience to choose what
it likes and to reject what it does not.

With the advent of the Internet and email, the world has really shrunk. Any person can have
access to information at the various websites, with a computer. All major newspapers,
magazines, satellite channels have their sites on the Internet. A person, who is unable to go
through a newspaper or watch television, can gain access to the latest information by
browsing through their respective sites. All these inventions have shrunk the globe to such
an extent that the world can now be called a global village. The foreign electronic media has
also made its entry. The CNN, BBC and CNBC have become a part and parcel of the daily
viewing in all urban centres. Their programs have found their way into the Indian living
rooms but it has not been a smooth sail. Controversies have erupted and many Indian
newspapers and magazines have sought court protection to stop the foreign print media from
entering into the country.

The flow of information is essential for the development of communities and the media
facilitates this. Without a wide array of information, people’s opinions and views would be
limited and their impressions and conclusions of the world around them stunted. Historically,
the most common form of the distribution of information was the word of mouth, and the
news often began with the words, “Did you know…” Indeed, word of mouth is still one of
the most powerful tools in sharing of information even today, particularly in tourism, but
technology has allowed for this exchange to take place in an instant, forging the way for
bigger and better media houses with the instant access to information with the instant
gratification factor.

Media workers are in essence interpreters of information. All of us have at some point of time
been to the library to research for a paper or report, sifting through piles and piles of
information to support a thesis in thousand words or more, or to simply explain an event,
situation, or a person. Journalists in the media do much the same. They don’t just provide
pages of facts and statistics that the average person might not understand. Instead, they weed
out the important issues and points, putting them in a context that the average reader and
listener can make sense of, in order to form their own opinions. How terrible would it be if
we all had to sift through piles of documentation and statistics, or sit through press
conferences, just to find out that the price of rice in China has risen? Journalists provide the
five basic areas of information, who, what, where, why, and how. Most of the time, that’s all
28
we need to know. In this way, the media keeps us focussed on the issues that matter in a
surveillance-type way. Some aspects of media surveillance include the latest stock report,
sports scores, entertainment news, progress and results of an election, and so forth.

29
ONLINE TRAVEL AGENT (CASE OF MAKEMYTRIP.COM)

Overview

MakeMyTrip Inc. is an online travel company headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana founded

by Deep Kalra. The company provides online travel services including flight tickets,
domestic and international holiday packages, hotel reservations, rail and bus tickets. In 2011
and 2012, MakeMyTrip made strategic acquisitions in pursuit of growth through new
channels and markets in the South-East Asia region. Recently, it launched Travel App for
mobile devices. The company has been consistently recognised as one of India’s best travel
portals. In addition to a full-service online portal, the company also operates through 59 retail
stores across 37 cities in India along with international offices in New York and Sydney.

History and growth

MakeMyTrip was founded by Deep Kalra, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management,

Ahmedabad. Prior to setting up MakeMyTrip, Deep had worked with GE Capital as the Vice
President - Business Development (Retail) and had also worked with ABN AMRO Bank and
AMF Bowling.

MakeMyTrip was launched in the US market in 2000 to cater to the overseas Indian
community for their US-to-India travel needs. The founding team consisted of Deep Kalra,
Keyur Joshi (Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer), Rajesh Magow (Co-Founder &
CEO - India, formerly Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer) and Sachin Bhatia
(ex-Chief Marketing Officer). After serving a long tenure of 10 years, since the company’s
inception, Sachin Bhatia quit MakeMyTrip as an active member and decided to work as an
independent advisor and a prime shareholder in the company.

With the success of IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation)'s online
business model which enabled the Indian traveller to purchase railway tickets on the Internet,
things started to look brighter for the travel market in India. This was also the time when
Low-Cost Carriers entered the Indian Aviation space. MakeMyTrip started its Indian
operations in September 2005, offering online flight tickets to Indian travellers. To broaden
it's travel portfolio, the company also started to focus on non-air businesses like holiday
packages and hotel bookings. On August 13, 2010, MakeMyTrip was listed on the NASDAQ
and went public, making a debut in the US market. Trade Analysts believed that this was an
encouraging sign for both the investors and other Indian firms.
30
In 2011, the company strengthened focus on the mobile route by creating several travel-
related Apps for all types of mobile devices (smartphones and basic cellphones). In the same
year, MakeMyTrip also made three acquisitions, namely, Luxury Tours and Travel Private
Limited (Singapore), Le Travenues Technology Private Limited (Gurgaon, India) and My
Guest House Accommodation (New Delhi, India). MakeMyTrip’s other acquisitions include
travel operators like ITC Group and Hotel Travel Group to enter new markets in the South-
East Asian region in the year 2012. Now in 2017 Makemytrip has become the leading travel
agency in the world.

Rajesh Magow was appointed as CEO - India in August 2013.

Products and services

• Flights - MakeMyTrip provides flight tickets for travel in all major domestic,
international as well as low-cost carriers operating in India. It caters to travellers for
both domestic and international travel from India. Apart from this, it caters to inbound
travel to India from countries like US, Canada, Singapore and UAE.

• Rail and Bus tickets - MakeMyTrip sells online rail tickets to its customers offering
features like return tickets with single payment option, flexi-search and automatic
alerts and updates on the availability of tickets. It also offers bus tickets across
different categories like Volvo, Air Conditioned, Non Air Conditioned, Deluxe,
Semi-Deluxe and Sleeper vehicles.

• Cab Service - MakeMyTrip introduced car hire services on its Indian website in May
2010. It currently provides car hire services in conjunction with holiday package
bookings.

• Hotels and Packages (Holidays) - The company offers hotel reservations in India
and international cities alike. There are over 13,000 hotels and guesthouses in India
that can be searched and compared online on the MakeMyTrip website. The hotels
range from luxury to budget accommodations. In November 2012, MakeMyTrip
acquired My Guest House Accommodation to increase the overall inventory for
budget rooms and service apartments. MakeMyTrip also offers a wide selection of
hotels outside India. Through the acquisition of easytobook.com, MakeMyTrip now
offers access to more than 184,000 hotels outside India. MakeMyTrip also offers

31
 group and customised holiday packages for popular domestic and international
destinations.

• Mobile Solutions - In 2012, MakeMyTrip launched travel mobile applications

(Apps) for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices. The app offers services like
flight and bus bookings, hotel reservations and holiday packages. It also caters to
other post-purchase requirements like generating e-tickets, making cancellations,
tracking status of refunds and other travel alerts. The travel itineraries available on
the Apps can be shared on Facebook and Twitter.

Nurtured from the seed of a single great idea - to empower the traveller - MakeMyTrip went
on to pioneer the entire online travel industry in India. MakeMyTrip has revolutionised the
travel industry over the years. This is the story of MakeMyTrip, India’s Online Travel Leader.

Today, MakeMyTrip is much more than just a travel portal or a famous pioneering brand - it
is a one-stop-travel-shop that offers the broadest selection of travel products and services in
India. MakeMyTrip is the undisputed online leader, with its share of the travel market
extending to more than 50% of all online sales, a fact evinced by the trust placed in it by
millions of happy customers.

Remaining reliable, efficient and at the forefront of technology, MakeMyTrip’s commitment

and customer-centricity allows it to better understand and provide for its customers’ diverse
needs and wants, and deliver consistently. With dedicated 24x7 customer support and offices
in 20 cities across India and 2 international offices in New York and San Francisco (in
addition to several franchise locations), MakeMyTrip is there for you, whenever and
wherever.

MakeMyTrip’s Products:

• International and Domestic Air Tickets, Holiday Packages and Hotels

• Domestic Bus and Rail Tickets

• Private Car and Taxi Rentals

• MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions)

• B2B and Affiliate Services

Luxury Holiday Packages Deals:

32
 • A Luxury Stay at Orange County Resort Coorg @ Rs.43,999/-
• Uttarakhand Delight - Nainital, Corbett and Mussoorie @ Rs.22,999/-
• Uttarakhand Delight - Nainital and Corbett @ Rs.17,999/-
• Opulence at Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur by Taj Holidays @ Rs.53,499/-
• Beautilicious Kerala With CGH Earth Hotel @ Rs.40,999/-
• Kerala - A Lovers Paradise @ Rs.52,999/-
• A Romantic Sojourn at Ananda In The Himalayas @ Rs.49,499/-
• Winter Special - A Keralan Getaway Honeymoon Special @ Rs.35,699/-
• A Romantic Journey to Coonoor and Coorg @ Rs.34,999/-
• And Many More

Honeymoon Packages, Honeymoon Destinations

Treat yourself to Honeymoon packages. Whether you're looking for a Honeymoon package
to relax and indulge, special holidays with friends and family, a trip to your favourite chillout
spot or a new adventure, you've come to the right place. Relive your life again and add a little
spice to it with exciting holidays. MakeMyTrip offers great deals and discounts on various
vacation packages. Honeymoon in India with myriad romantic getaways, a perfect beginning
to your new life. Go on your honeymoon in India to a destination of your choice and make it
an experience of a lifetime. Make your honeymoon special with a trip to the hills in the north
and north east or go on long lazy vacations to the exotic beaches in the south. You can even
enjoy your honeymoon tours in the beautiful locales of Kashmir or on a luxurious cruise. Go
on a holiday in the best honeymoon destinations with cheap vacation packages and cost
effective travel deals.

Other Popular Theme Holidays at MakeMyTrip :

• Exotic Islands Packages

• Festivals and Events Packages
• Honeymoon Packages
• Long Weekends Packages
• Luxury Packages
• Pilgrimage Packages
• Scuba Diving Special Packages
33
 • Summer Special Packages
• Weekend Getaways Packages
• Wildlife Packages
• Winter Special Packages
• Women Special Packages

Operational Model

MARKETING MIX

PRODUCT

§ International and Domestic air tickets.

§ Holiday packages and Hotels
§ Domestic Bus and Railway Tickets
§ Private Cars and Taxi Rentals.
§ Meetings, Conferences, Exhibitions.
PLACE

§ It has online portal 24 x 7

§ It have offices in 20 cities in India, Mumbai, New Delhi, Sydney and New York.

34
PRICE

§ MMT offers competitive economical prices for

§ Tour packages and moreover price is linked with advance booking also.

§ It aimed to offer a range of best-value products and services along with cutting-edge
technology and dedicated round-the-clock customer support.

PROMOTION

§ MMT offers travel insurance and Business

§ Lounges in India and overseas for all travelers
§ MMT provides valuable shopping discount booklets
§ MMT provides pick up and drop services for all air travelers.
§ Promoting services with strategic alliances with brands like Coke, Sify.com, Maruti
Udyog and Nokia etc.
PEOPLE

§ An essential ingredient to any service provision is the use of appropriate staff and people.
Recruiting the right staff and training them appropriately in the delivery of their service
is essential if the organization wants to obtain a form of competitive advantage.

§ Consumers make judgments and deliver perceptions of the service based on the
employees they interact with. MMT Staffs have the appropriate interpersonal skills,
aptitude, and service knowledge to provide the service that consumers are paying for.

§ Most trusted name in the industry, MakeMyTrip's spectacular success is in no small part
due to the unblinking vision of its senior management team and the dedication of its
employees. MakeMyTrip employs over 700 “Trippers” from the travel, tourism,
hospitality and technology industries.

PROCESS

§ The process mix constitutes the overall procedure involved in using the services offered
by the MMT. A process should be such that the customer is easily able to understand and
easy to follow.

§ The smaller and simpler the procedure, the better the process, and the customer will be
more satisfied.

35
§ It Refers to the systems used to assist the organization in delivering the service.

VALUES:

We must strive for excellence in whatever we do. Focus on continuous improvement in

interactions with people, efficiency of processes, and the wellbeing of the organization.

We must ensure consistency between our words and actions, always delivering what we
commit. We can thereby maintain transparency, trust and accountability.

We must continually apply intelligence, reason and technology to our work and environment.
This allow us to take informed risks & champion new ideas to improve our business as well
as the community.

We must create and maintain an atmosphere of fun while at work, making work a happy place
we can all look forward to.

36
We must have a "can do" attitude, not take "no" for an answer and believe that nothing is
impossible. This will allow us to work relentlessly toward achieving our goals and honouring
our commitments.

We must maintain focus on our customers, both internal & external, by giving them priority.
Strive to exceed their expectations in terms of the value and quality delivered.

We must feel responsible and accountable for the commitments we make and the quality of
the results we deliver to all our stakeholders.

We must foster an environment wherein we can efficiently utilise the abilities of all team
members to achieve goals. We should work on the premise that the whole is greater than the
sum of the parts.

37
We must give fellow colleagues the opportunity and freedom to think and act in ways that
will allow them to get the job done, and yet be consistent with the processes laid down.

We must give everyone, with whom we interact, respect and consideration.

Marketing Mix of Services

38
ADVERTISEMENTS OF MAKEMYTRIP:

MakeMyTrip.com

A fat man in a foreign country He walks into the market and In the next shot, he sees a
looks desperately for some looks into a woman's plate to see woman wearing a chicken
chicken to curb his hunger. if there is chicken on her platter. costume. He asks her where he
could get chicken.

He finally finds a restaurant After the sumptuous meal he The waiter also replies back in
named 'Chi Can Restaurant' and appreciates the waiter for the the same manner that it is not
places his order. dish expressing himself through chicken but "BOW BOW".
gestures.

The man gets disappointed and

feels pukish. VO: "Jo Dikhega,
Wahi Milega".

39
MakeMyTrip.com

The TVC opens and a man is lying He is surrounded by his family and a Seeing the man has lost his memory,
unconscious on a bed. doctor. As he opens his eyes, his first the doctor asks him to remember
question is "main kahan hoon?" something from the past.

The man starts thinking and then Then he remembers his trip to Manali And lastly his romantic trip to Kerala.
remembers visiting Thailand and and Rome ...
dancing.

Remembering nothing except the trips As his family hopelessly looks at him Aur kuch yaad rahe na rahe, yaad
he had around the world, he sees his a VO explains ... rahenge makemytrip.com ke saath
son and asks him, "Tu kaun hai bey?" betai pal. Kyonki jab ho anokhe
packages deals aur experiences to
yaadein to banti jaengi

The TVC ends with the doctor asking

him if he remembers anything, to
which he replies, 'makemytrip'

40
 MARKETING STRATEGIES OF
MAKEMYTRIP.COM

MakeMyTrip has been instrumental in changing the way India travels. With the widespread
adoption of Online Travel, it was imperative for us as the category leader to unearth a deep-
rooted customer motivation and strengthen our association with customers.

The campaign has been conceptualized with the objective to strengthen the brand’s connect
amongst existing travellers and drive its adoption among new consumers. Through this brand
repositioning exercise and the new tag-line ‘Dil Toh Roaming Hai’, MakeMyTrip intends to
be travel partner that fuels the growing travel ambition of customers at large. In other words,
our new campaign is aimed at encouraging people to give in to their latent travel desires while
MakeMyTrip makes the entire researching, planning and buying experience convenient and
personalized through its suite of solutions (such as Route planner, Do It Yourself Holidays
and mobile app), content (blogs, reviews and testimonials) and offerings (hotels, direct
charters, holidays).

The new-age traveler is seeking choice through multiplicity of options. We are cognizant of
the importance of range and choice for today’s travelers and our new brand positioning is a
clear acknowledgment of this reality. Our new TVC, ‘Dil Toh Roaming hai’, showcases how
each one of us has a wandering heart with many latent travel desires. MakeMyTrip as the co
– conspirator seeks to inspire consumers to give wings to their growing travel ambition. This
will not only expand the travel category, but also catalyze the offline-to-online shift.

The campaign will establish MMT from being a provider to a knowledgeable and inspiring
partner. MMT believes that consumers harbor many holiday ambitions in their hearts. The
brand wants to expand the concept of travel beyond a once-a-year family activity by nudging
less-frequent travelers to give into their hearts’ wanderlust.

MakeMyTrip has been instrumental in changing the way India travels. MakeMyTrip as the
co – conspirator seeks to inspire consumers to give wings to their growing travel ambition.
In line with our new positioning, Make My Trip is focusing at encouraging people to give in
41
to their latent travel desires while making the entire researching, planning and buying
experience convenient and personalized through its suite of solutions (such as Route planner,
Do It Yourself Holidays and mobile app), content (blogs, reviews and testimonials) and
offerings (hotels, direct charters, holidays).

Over the years, the company has attained its leadership by achieving strong growth in all core
business segments. We have witnessed healthy growth for our Holiday business for travel
within India and internationally. From a Hotel customer’s online experience standpoint, we
have improved the speed of the shopping experience by reducing data entry where ever
possible. We have also invested in enriching the customer’s online hotel & holiday research
and purchase experience and we are witnessing results in terms of increased engagement and
transactions. On the mobile front, we have enhanced the hotel booking experience by adding
‘Instabook’, a fast and painless payments feature initially launched for our flights business.
Additionally, we are also utilizing the GPS coordinates from mobile devices to provide
smarter and more targeted hotel deals notifications.

When we did our IPO (initial public offering) five years ago, about 85 per cent of our revenue
came from air ticketing. In FY 2014, Hotels & Packages (H&P) represented 38% of our
overall net revenue (while air-ticketing share was 58%). In first half 2015, this share stood at
45% while share of air-ticketing revenues was 51%. So, we are progressing well on our stated
objective of optimizing our revenue-mix.

We continue to invest in Hotels & Packages business. At 200,000+ listings, we have the
largest inventory of global hotels among OTAs in India. We strengthened our portfolio of
Hotel offerings in the South-East Asia region through two key acquisitions in 2013 - Hotel
Travel Group and the ITC Group in Thailand. With the acquisition of Easytobook.com in
2014, we expanded our presence beyond South-East Asia. More recently, we acquired certain
assets of Mygola.com to focus on cutting-edge innovation in online travel. This acquisition
has been done through the company’s earlier announced Innovation Fund which has been
formed to invest in start-up or early-stage companies in the travel technology space. Through
this innovation fund, last year as well we bought a 25% stake in Bangalore based digital
hotel marketing solutions firm Simplotel.

42
Mobile will continue to drive the growth of the OTA industry. Mobile bookings will soon
overtake bookings through other devices. SMS/messaging-platform based booking services
are taking off in China, and perhaps a developer or entrepreneur will find a way to create a
market for this in India. Wearable Technology will enhance the traveller experience, enabling
them to find “just-in-time” deals and handy information when they land in a city.

At MakeMyTrip, one of our key priorities is to build products that simplify travel for our
customers. Constant innovation in terms of technology and products is a big focus area. As
the coming years shape up, we will continue to innovate with our packages basis customer
feedback and market research.

REGULARLY GETTING ADD-ONS:

In the business of travel booking, it is essential for a company to know that there are various
other factors that need to be looked at and integrated, in order to run the process in a smooth
manner. Therefore, for the travel and booking apps to flourish, they need to keep a check on
the added advantage they give to their customers. For example, including various things like
connecting the best flights, accommodating the best hotels in a nearby area to major junction
points, integrating taxi apps, etc. will give your customers a fair idea about the level of your
service and also make their user experience hassle free.

MakeMyTrip has all the major market leaders related to traveling, hotel booking, modes of
transportation, etc. so that the customers can find all the services that they need and would
not get any reason to opt out of the mobile app before making the full process. Also, the
integration would bring added advantages like free coupons; optimum cash back offers and
much more.

KEEPING UP WITH THE MARKET TRENDS:

Keeping up with the market trends is by far the most important thing that the online booking
apps have to do. Traveling is an industry that is developing at the rate of knots and has many
new mobile apps coming in irrespective of the platform. Therefore, the digital marketers must
43
always be on their toes and street smart in your thinking so that they can rope in all the
trending factors in their app and make it more viable for the customers as well.

By market trends, we not only mean to follow the rules, instead of just following them, you
can do something innovative just like MMT and be the market leaders. MMT made the
advertisements of their services, funny and more related to the aspects a common man would
go through so that the customers can relate to it easily. Moreover, creating different
advertisements including different religions can add a different charm to your marketing
strategy. Thus, adopting an all-inclusive approach you can strive to make your marketing
strategy unique for the customers and stand out of the crowd

KEEPING THINGS FRESH:

Here comes the main role of content marketing. The digital marketers should foray different
kinds of thing portraying their vision and concern for the customers in order to keep the things
fresh in the website or the mobile app. Tell your design team to include educative app icons
and supportive images throughout the app and website so that the customers would find it
very easy to know about your app and your services and decide on its feasibility.

Your marketing team should include content related to the recent stuff going around like
festivals, political situations or remarks on the present scenario of the country concerned
with. This kind of mobile app marketing strategy will help go a long way with the
customers and also get their attention for an extended span of time.

Values:

MakeMyTrip is a combination of several values such as:-

• Customer Centered Approach: They are focusing on their customer both externally and
internally.
• Integrity: MakeMyTrip is maintaining a consistency between their words and action.
They are maintaining.

44
• Innovation: MakeMyTrip is combining innovation in business as well as in technology
to provide best products and services to their customers.
• Teamwork: MakeMyTrip believes in teamwork for achieving goals of providing best
service to their customers.
• Accountability: MakeMyTrip feels the responsibility and accountability which they
promise to their customers and stakeholders.
• Passsion for Winning: MakeMyTrip believes in "can do" attitude and believes that
nothing is impossible.

Customer Value Preposition:

MakeMyTrip core preposition to customer is best deals at customers convenience.

MakeMyTrip is a reliable, efficient and uses latest technology for its business.
MakeMyTrip believes that it's not the cheaper air tickets which will bring customers to
them. MakeMyTrip believes in creating an experience for the customer. The advantage that
a customer gets while visiting MakeMyTrip.com is that it lists all available options
available in a glance thus saving his valuable time.

Booking is also very flexible through MakeMyTrip which allows customers to make
amendments and cancellation at any moment .MakeMyTrip also provides various payments
facility ranging from net banking, debit cards to credit cards of almost every bank. In case
of any refund money is automatically transferred back to same account through e-
transaction. Besides all these advantages MakeMyTrip also provides many value added
services to customers such as various discounts and offers on various booking.

MAIN STRATEGY:

At 40% growth rate every year, online travel agency is India is a rapidly growing space.
MakeMyTrip marketing strategy is focusing on making MakeMyTrip an elite brand rather
than product. To attain this target they are focusing on all four P's of marketing i.e. Product,
Price, Place and Promotion.

45
Their product i.e. online tickets are greatly accepted by customers and their value added
services is providing customer satisfaction. As far as Price goes they are providing online
tickets to their customers at an affordable price. MakeMyTrip is using e-market as the place
for their business which is accessible to customers from anywhere. Although internet
penetration in India is only 7%, MakeMyTrip is taking it as a challenge or opportunity for
their business. As far as promotion goes MakeMyTrip is communicating and making people
aware about their products and services through electronic banners on websites, television
commercials and also through their offline retails stores. Online advertisements are meant to
drive transactions while offline transaction i.e. through television is helping MakeMyTrip to
emerge as a brand. The reason MakeMyTrip going for offline marketing because building a
brand online is very difficult. A person when online, he is busy surfing information and
checking mails. User rarely puts his eye on the online advertisements.

CHAPTER -3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1 AIM OF THE STUDY

To analyze the emergence of Online Travel Agencies in Indian Tourism Industry and to
evaluate the user preference with respect to MakeMyTrip.com.

2.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

- To analyze the present state of E-Commerce in tourism industry in India.

- To identify the challenges and opportunities for E-Commerce in tourism industry

- To analyze the market of Online Airline Travel Search Engines.

- To study the cost competitiveness among Online Airline Travel Search Engines.

- To conduct a comparison of services provided and marketing strategies as adopted by

Make My Trip.

46
- To conduct a survey for user preference in regards to services provided by Make My
Trip.

2.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

This study is EXPLORATORY and DESCRIPTIVE in nature. It helps in breaking vague

problem into smaller and precise problem and emphasizes on discovering of new ideas and
insights. Exploratory research was conducted during the initial stage of the research process
which helped to refine the problem into researchable one. It has progressively narrowed the
scope of research topic.

Research design:

Research design constitutes the blue print for the collection, measurement and analysis of
data. The present study seeks to identify the extent of preferences of E-Banking over
traditional banking among service class. The research design is exploratory in nature. The
research has been conducted on service class people within New Delhi. For the selection of
the sample, convenient sampling method was adopted and an attempt has been made to
include all the age groups and gender within the service class.

Sources of data: Following are the methods of sources of data:

Secondary data:

• Articles on E-Banking taken from journals, magazines published from time to time.

• Through internet.

Primary data:

Questionnaire was used to collect primary data from respondents. The questionnaire was
structured type and contained questions relating to different dimensions of travel portals
preferences among different occupational class such as level of usage, factors influencing the
usage of travel portals services, benefits accruing to the users of travel portals services,
problems encountered. An attempt was also made to elicit reasons for its non-usage. The
questions included in the questionnaire were open-ended, dichotomous and offering multiple
choices.
47
Sampling technique: The sampling technique used for judgment is Convenience and
Judgment Sampling.

This includes:

• Interviews of officials of MakeMyTrip.com.

• Getting questionnaire filled from different travel agents

• Observation: recognizing and recording relevant events and activities.

Questionnaire:

i) Sample Size 100

ii) Sample Elements People using OTAs

iii) Sample Extent Delhi Region

iv) Sampling Tool Judgmental

v) Analysis Bar Graphs & Pie Charts

Structured Interview:

i) Sample Size 10

Tools and techniques of analysis:

The data so collected will be analyzed through the application of statistical techniques, such
as bar graphs and pie charts.

2.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Every research is conducted under some constraints and this research is not an exception.
Limitations of this study are as follows:-

• There were several time constraints.

48
• The study was limited to areas of New Delhi only.

• The sample size of only 100 was taken from the large population for the purpose of study,
so there can be difference between results of sample from total population.

• The study is related to service class people only.

• People were reluctant to go in to details because of their busy schedules.

• Merely asking questions and recording answers may not always elicit the actual
information sought.

• Due to continuous change in environment, what is relevant today may be irrelevant

tomorrow.

49
 CHAPTER -4
DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

CUSTOMER SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

• Age:
25-30 yrs 30-35 yrs 35-40 yrs 40-45 yrs Above 40 yrs
15 45 20 10 10

Above 40 yrs 25-30 yrs

40-45 yrs 10% 15%
10%

35-40 yrs
20%
30-35 yrs
45%

• Sex:
Male Female
70 30

Female
30%

Male
70%

• Are you a Computer User?

50
Yes No
100 0

No
0%

Yes
100%

• Do you use Internet?

Yes No
100 0

No
0%

Yes
100%

51
 • Do you like to make purchase on/through internet?

Yes No
80 20

No
20%

Yes
80%

• What mode of payment you chose?

Credit Card Net banking Cash on delivery Whatever mode site

demands/No choice
28 32 20 20

Credit Card
Whatever mode 28%
site
demands/No
choice
20%

Net banking
32%
Cash on
delivery
20%

52
 • Do you visit Travel sites, Ticketing sites, E-Commerce sites etc.

Yes No
100 0

No
0%

Yes
100%

• Have you visited the following sites?

Yes No
www.irctc.co.in 80 20
www.yatra.com 40 60
www.ezeego1.com 10 90
Makemytrip.com 40 60
Others 20 80
80 80 80
80

70
60 60
60

50
40 40
40

30
20 20 20
20

10

0
Yes No

www.irctc.co.in www.yatra.com www.ezeego1.com Makemytrip.com Others

53
 • Is the site useful?

Yes No
www.irctc.co.in 80 20
www.yatra.com 40 60
www.ezeego1.com 10 90
Makemytrip.com 40 60
Others 20 80

80 80 80
80
70
60 60
60
50
40 40
40
30
20 20 20
20
10
0
Yes No

www.irctc.co.in www.yatra.com www.ezeego1.com

Makemytrip.com Others

• How do you rate the sites?

Excellent Good Average Poor

www.irctc.co.in 20 30 40 10
www.yatra.com 20 30 40 10
www.ezeego1.com 20 30 40 10
Makemytrip.com 20 30 40 10
Others 20 30 40 10

54
 40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Excellent Good Average Poor

www.irctc.co.in www.yatra.com www.ezeego1.com

Makemytrip.com Others

• Do you agree that with the increasing Online Travel Services

remodeling and innovating themselves as a “Travel Consultant” will
help tourists?

Yes No
80 20

No
20%

Yes
80%

55
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE OF OFFICIAL TRAVEL AGENTS

• What are the segments of Tourist that you cater to?

Domestic International Both
40 32 28

Both
28% Dom estic
40%

International
32%

• What are the services you provide?

Air Railway Hotel Local Customized Others

Ticketing Bookings reservation Transportation Tours
30 60 50 20 18 38
60
60

50
50

40 38

30
30

20
20 18

10

0
Air Ticketing Railw ay Hotel Local Customized Others
Bookings reserv ation Transportation Tours

56
 • What according to you is the most used method by tourists for
finding Information about India?

Direct Mail WWW Print Travel Tourism Travel Guides/

Media Agent Office Publications
50 30 18 40 28 12

50
50

45
40
40

35
30
30 28

25

20 18

15
12
10

0
Direct Mail WWW Print Media Travel Agent Tourism Travel
Office Guides/
Publications

• Why do International Tourists visit India?

No. of Respondents
Cultural & Heritage Tourism 58
Adventure Trails 32
Medical & Health Tourism 18
Ecotourism 22
Pilgrim & Religious Tourism 19
All of the Above 40

57
 58
60

50

40
40
32

30
22
18 19
20

10

Cultural & Heritage Tourism Adventure Trails Medical & Health Tourism
Ecotourism Pilgrim & Religious Tourism All of the Above

• Do you think E-Marketing is an effective way of reaching a large

number of Customers?

YES NO

72 28

NO
28%

YES
72%

58
 • Do you think Internet has affected the Tourism business?

YES NO
100 0

NO
0%

YES
90%

• Has rapid technological advancement and increased penetration and

use of the Internet forced the travel agents community to rethink on
their business models and strategy?

Yes No
48 52

YES
48%

NO
52%

59
• How has Internet affected the tourism business?
Fast Paced Larger Reach Cost Effective Others
30 20 28 32

Others Fast Paced

30% 27%

Larger Reach
Cost Effective 18%
25%

• What are the areas where E-Marketing is being used in Tourism or

Service Industry?
Hotel Booking/ Airlines Booking/ Cruise Booking/ Others
Reservations Reservations Reservations
100 40 60 30
100
100
90
80
70 60
60
50 40
40 30
30
20
10
0

Hotel Booking/ Reservations Airlines Booking/ Reservations

Cruise Booking/ Reservations Others

60
 • What are the advantages of E-sales over traditional sales?

Transaction Speed Reliability Convenient Cost-effective Others

100 98 80 20 50
100 98
100
80
80

60 50

40
20
20

Transaction Speed Reliability Convenient Cost-effective Others

• What are the disadvantages of E-sales?

Privacy & Security Delivery of goods Lack of Social Interaction

80 78 90
90
90
88
86
84
82 80
80 78
78
76
74
72

Privacy & Security Delivery of goods Lack of Social Interaction

61
• Are the advertising and promotional activities over Internet as
effective as traditional methods?

YES NO
78 22

NO
30%

YES
70%

• Are customer needs truly satisfied over the Internet through E-

marketing?

YES NO
90 10

NO
10%

YES
90%

62
• Are E-transactions secured and reliable?

YES NO
95 5

NO
5%

YES
95%

• Do you think that in near future E-marketing will change the way of
business/retailing is done?

YES NO
90 10

NO
10%

YES
90%

63
 • What do you think is required for success in the present Tourism
scenario?

Yes
Modern technology and advanced itinerary planning 42
Consultancy services, 28
End-to-end travel solutions 15
Troubleshooting call centres 15

50
42

40
28
30

20 15 15

10

Modern technology and advanced itinerary planning

Consultancy services,
End-to-end travel solutions
Troubleshooting call centres

64
 CHAPTER-5

RECOMMENDATIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND FINDINGS OF THE

STUDY

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

In spite of the OTA’s snatching away the business from the travel agents in the domestic
ticketing segment, there are various other segments of the travel market where these OTA’s
will never be able to reach or will take substantial time.

The need for quick and reliable travel services has never been greater than it is today in fast-
paced and globally connected world. The swift response this has demanded has brought to
surface the inadequacies of conventional travel agencies. Faced with a overabundance of
choices, made possible by the beginning of low-cost carriers and their competitive fares,
travelers have realized that the simplest, most comfortable way of comparing prices and
booking air tickets is the internet. It was in this space that MakeMyTrip.com – the pioneering
idea that jumpstarted the entire online travel revolution in India – found its calling. No longer
restricted by payment logistics, the remoteness of location or the time of day, travelers
suddenly discovered that, for the first time, they were fully in charge, independent and in an
environment that was, in addition, both safe and reliable. This added to the comfort and
helped fashion an entire industry.

MakeMyTrip.com is the pioneer that started the entire online travel revolution in India. But
being first was not a guarantee for success. Like all good ideas the pioneering spirit of
MakeMyTrip.com needed to be supported by constant innovation, long-term vision and
reliability. That businesses were taking notice of the emergence of an entire industry became
apparent at award functions. MakeMyTrip.com has also emerged as the top seller among
online and offline travel companies for all the major domestic and international airlines, as
well as hotels. Recognition has come from Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines,
Lufthansa, Malaysian Airlines and Air Mauritius and from Cidade de Goa and the Taj Group
in the hospitality business, for its innovations in the field of digital marketing.
MakeMyTrip.com has won the prestigious Abby Award (Gold and Silver), two years in a

65
row. MakeMyTrip.com has gained the trust of over one million satisfied customers as well
as the respect and acclaim of the entire travel industry and business world.

Today, MakeMyTrip.com leads the Indian online travel companies in this industry. An air
ticket or hotel room can be booked from almost anywhere in the world, around-the clock.
Customers have wide-ranging options to choose from and it is possible to generate an e-ticket
or hotel voucher instantly.

A customer centric company, MakeMyTrip.com offers the potential traveller a

comprehensive menu of best-value travel products and services. These range from domestic
and international air tickets to corporate tours. The company's product repertoire balances
non-air and air products with the evolving market for international holidays – a business
prospect that MakeMyTrip.com has actively pursued. The growing popularity of its foreign
holidays and tours operations is making this an important revenue stream for the company.
Not content with just its conventional offerings, MakeMyTrip.com has developed a powerful
search engine that allows visitors to compare and book tickets on any airline, including low
cost and full service carriers. The company also offers real-time bookings of over 4000 hotels
in India and 12,000 internationally and also provides online hiring of cabs for airport
transfers, day excursions and extended trips. Travel agents from anywhere in the world can
access MakeMyTrip.com through an exclusive business-to-business extranet. Every product
and service offered by MakeMyTrip.com is supported in real-time by call centers that are
operational around-the clock, as well as 23 company-owned travel shops and franchisee
outlets that have been opened in select cities.

While MakeMyTrip.com continues to exert pressure on competition by constantly upgrading

technologies, it has an ear firmly tuned to consumer needs. Two observations have molded
the company: the first is that many people still prefer the traditional touch and-feel method
of booking tickets. In deference to them the company has opened 23 regional offices across
the country. The second realization was that every passenger is not an air traveler. To reach
train and bus passengers MakeMyTrip.com has introduced separate sections on its website
to book rail and bus tickets. These offer the most exhaustive inventory of routes and help
make MakeMyTrip.com the most complete travel reservation portal in India. In a recent
introduction MakeMyTrip.com has launched a path-breaking initiative that facilitates multi-
city airline bookings. This simply means that customers can search and compare fares for
more than two departure and destination cities. MakeMyTrip.com uses a completely
66
foolproof, VeriSign-secure server. However, for people who prefer not to make online
transactions, the company offers the facility of collecting payment against delivery of tickets
at their doorstep. In the most recent example of the company staying on top of technological
developments, MakeMyTrip.com provided customers with the facility of searching, booking
and paying for their air tickets using their mobile phone. This eliminated the need for a
computer or an internet connection and gave travelers the advantage of making their
purchases from anywhere in the country, at any time.

The company's widespread brand recognition stems from its quality products and services,
as well as its customer outreach programmers which have used innovative media promotions.
Typically, they have entailed the strategic use of print, television, radio and online marketing.
That MakeMyTrip.com was fully in sync with market needs is best exemplified in the fact
that its India operation was launched with the challenging lowest airfare guarantee. In an
intensely competitive market this was a bold statement to make. It made customers take
notice and brought the young brand instant recognition and success. MakeMyTrip.com
followed this with an equally compelling money-back guarantee which helped strengthen the
company's stand of being a provider of high-quality travel services with easy-on-the-pocket
prices. MakeMyTrip.com also offers various cash-back schemes for hotel bookings, flight
reservations, and bus tickets as well as for holidays in India and abroad. Recently, listeners
of Hit! 95 FM were tackled by a promotion that gave them a chance to win a weekend break
at an exciting destination. The number of enquiries that were received and the overall
enthusiasm of participants showed the popularity of the scheme – and also was evidence that
the radio was back in favor. MakeMyTrip.com has also, in partnership with various Banks,
co-sponsored the increasingly popular and versatile Go Card, which offers a wide range of
domestic and international travel services as well as exclusive promotions with airlines,
hotels and holidays.

That many brands fail is a reminder that the consumer is a hard task master and the market,
an unforgiving testing ground. The success that MakeMyTrip.com has achieved is the result
of its unblinking focus on three core values: customer centricity, integrity and accountability.
Founded to empower the Indian traveler with choice, MakeMyTrip.com strives to offer its
customers best-value travel products and services. Supported by cutting-edge technology and
a vision to stay relevant it is – and will remain – the brand of choice.

RECOMMENDATIONS
67
The travel agencies are probably the most endangered organizations, as their job is
increasingly being seen as replaceable by technology. Today, travel agencies play multiple
roles: information brokers to pass information from product suppliers to customers,
transaction processors to print ticket or forward money, and advisors to provide added-value
information to their customers, assisting them in their choice of specific products and
destinations. The first two of these roles will increasingly be played by technology, going
directly to the customers to provide them with information and process their transaction
needs. Therefore, agencies will have to focus on the third role, and differentiate it according
to their target market.

1. Corporate Travel Agencies:

The business travel is attracted by getting more control of their travel expenses, long-term
pricing arrangements, a quick and easy way to make repeating travel arrangements, and, for
corporate travel, enforcing corporate-wide travel policies while respecting every traveler’s
preferences.

Their objective should be to position themselves as travel process management consultants.

Corporations are increasingly being targeted directly by product suppliers and CRS, and need
advice to better manage these relationships. Being independent, travel agencies have a unique
role to play here, advising their customers on which technologies to implement, how to
redesign internal business processes to get the full benefits from these technologies, how to
benchmark themselves against the best practices in the industry, etc.

2. The Leisure Segment:

This segment is attracted by a convenient way to access information, low prices and somehow
by personalized advice or the collection of past experience

Travel agencies catering to the needs of leisure travelers should have a different approach.
The issue here is about differentiation from the competition, knowing that low costs alone
won’t suffice. I believe technology has a role to play in enhancing the shopping experience.
Today, going to a travel agency to purchase a holiday package is frequently not a very
pleasant experience -- long wait times, shuffling through paper catalogs and waiting for
phone calls to suppliers are not attractive. Technology could eliminate those shortcomings

68
through kiosks, supporting multimedia clips, databases of relevant travel, visa and destination
information, etc. One could imagine a travel superstore, with areas for destination (Australia,
Asia, Alaska, etc.) or type of travel (cruises, sports holiday). Each area or booth would have
a specialist of the particular type of travel, supported by technology to display multimedia
clips, make bookings, etc. Depending on the state of broadband communications
infrastructure, some of that information could be delivered to a home PC or television. The
experience of shopping is probably the only thing that electronic media will never be able to
filly replicate, and should therefore be fully exploited in the real world.

CONCLUSION

This study was conducted to understand the effects of emergence of OTA’s on the traditional
agents in the Indian travel market. The analysis and understanding derived from the data
collected were used to generalize the industry as a whole. This report should help in
understanding how the market structure is predicted to change in the Indian travel industry.
It was noticed that the emergence of OTA’S in the market would eventually lead to the end
of smaller travel agents and only the bigger ones will survive, therefore shifting the
production to a few in the industry.

Also a full exploitation of the potential for market transparency will only fuel the further
growth of the market for OTA services. At the same time the impact of market transparency
on prices is that the prices are driven lower leading to a price war between the travel agents,
as the consumers are able to discover and purchase the lowest available fares. Moreover, an
increase in market transparency is associated with a decrease in the costs of information
search and, consequently, it also tends to increase consumers’ willingness-to-pay. Moreover,
the strategies adopted by the travel agents are not just based on their willingness to do so but
are also constrained by their analysis of resources and capabilities and amounts of
investments required.

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During all these developments the size of the consumer base has increased as the low prices,
better services attract more travelers to this industry completing the entire cycle of events.

FUTURE SCOPE OF THE STUDY

India is still at a nascent stage in E-commerce development. The research presented above
was conducted during this time; and as there is complete development of E-commerce in this
industry various other sides to these issues may be visible. Many of which cannot be predicted
at this early stage.

Also this study maybe continued further to not just accommodate the effect of OTA’s but
other phenomena taking place at this time in the Indian market.

Moreover, this study could also be extended to other Asian countries where again online
travel agencies are a relatively new concept and a comparison maybe drawn out on the shape
of things between different countries.

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 QUESTIONNAIRES USED:

CUSTOMER SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

As a part of my research project at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, I have

prepared this questionnaire. In no way are the results of this survey to be sold or otherwise
distributed to any other company. I appreciate your honest opinions. Thank you very much.

Name of Respondent: ________________________________

E-Mail I.D.: ______________________________________
Age: ________________
Please tick appropriate blank..

• Sex:
Male ______ Female_____

• Are you a Computer User?

Yes______ No______

• Do you use Internet?

Yes______ No______

• Do you like to make purchase on/through internet?

Yes______ No______

• What mode of payment you chose?

a. Credit Card______
b. Net banking _______
c. Cash on delivery_______
d. Whatever mode site demands/No choice________
• Do you visit Travel sites, Ticketing sites, E-Commerce sites etc.
Yes______ No______

• Have you visited the following sites?

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www.irctc.co.in Yes______ No______
www.yatra.com Yes______ No______
www.ezeego1.com Yes______ No______
Makemytrip.com Yes______ No______
Others Yes______ No______

• Is the site useful?

www.irctc.co.in Yes______ No______
www.yatra.com Yes______ No______
www.ezeego1.com Yes______ No______
Makemytrip.com Yes______ No______
Others Yes______ No______

• How do you rate the sites?

Excellent Good Average Poor
www.irctc.co.in
www.yatra.com
www.ezeego1.com
Makemytrip.com

• Do you agree that with the increasing Online Travel Services remodeling and
innovating themselves as a “Travel Consultant” will help tourists?

Yes No

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 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TRAVEL AGENTS

Organization:
Designation/Department:
• What are the segments of Tourist that you cater to?
Domestic International Both

• What are the services you provide?

Air Railway Hotel Local Customized Others
Ticketing Bookings reservation Transportation Tours

• What according to you is the most used method by tourists for finding
Information about India?
Direct Mail WWW Print Media Travel Tourism Travel Guides/
Agent Office Publications

• Why do International Tourists visit India?

Yes No
Cultural & Heritage Tourism
Adventure Trails
Medical & Health Tourism
Ecotourism
Pilgrim & Religious Tourism
All of the Above

• Do you think E-Marketing is an effective way of reaching a large number of

Customers?
YES NO

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• Do you think Internet has affected the Tourism business?
YES NO

• Has rapid technological advancement and increased penetration and use of the
Internet forced the travel agents community to rethink on their business models
and strategy?
Yes No

• How has Internet affected the tourism business?

Fast Paced Larger Reach Cost Effective Others

• What are the areas where E-Marketing is being used in Tourism or Service
Industry?
Hotel Booking/ Airlines Booking/ Cruise Booking/ Others
Reservations Reservations Reservations

• What are the advantages of E-sales over traditional sales?

Transaction Speed Reliability Convenient Cost-effective Others

• What are the disadvantages of E-sales?

Privacy & Security Delivery of goods Lack of Social Interaction

• Are the advertising and promotional activities over Internet as effective as

traditional methods?
YES NO

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 • Are customer needs truly satisfied over the Internet through E-marketing?
YES NO

• Are E-transactions secured and reliable?

YES NO

• Do you think that in near future E-marketing will change the way of
business/retailing is done?
YES NO

• What do you think is required for success in the present Tourism scenario?
Yes No
Modern technology and advanced itinerary planning

Consultancy services,

End-to-end travel solutions

Troubleshooting call centres

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY/ REFERENCES

• Makemytrip.com Official Website and blog.

• Bajaj, K.K., Country Report on E-Commerce (India, Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology, Department of Information Technology, Office of the
Controller of Certifying Authorities).
• Sinha (April 2009), “Ecommerce in India – The Real Challenges”
• Chaudhury, Abijit; Jean-Pierre Kuilboer (2002). E-Business and e-Commerce
Infrastructure. McGraw-Hill.
• Frieden, Jonathan D.; Roche, Sean Patrick (2006), "ECommerce: Legal Issues of the
Online Retailer in Virginia", Richmond Journal of Law & Technology,13 (2).
• Miller, Roger (2002), “The Legal and E-Commerce Environment Today”, Thomson
Learning, pp. 741 pages.
• Turban E, Lee J King D and Chung H M (1999),” Electronic Commerce: A Managerial
Perspective”, Prentice Hall
• Ubois, Jeff (1995), “Wheels of Commerce- an Interview with commerce”, pp 62-69
• Megna, Michelle (2008); “E-Commerce Trends for 2008 and 2009”.
• Rastogi, Rajiv; “Country’s report on E Commerce Initiatives”.

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