Amsterdam-based booking.com , a global online hotel room finder, is set to add 10,000 additional properties by next year in India to meet an increasing demand from domestic travellers, Ruchi Lahoti, area manager, north-east India, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan, said.
“There are more young travellers in India now,” Ms. Lahoti said in an interview. “They would rather spend on going for a holiday than a date. From the 28,000 properties, we will go to 38,000 by the end of next year. That is mainly being fuelled by domestic travel.”
Tourism in India accounts for 9.6% of the GDP and is the third largest foreign exchange earner for the country.
The tourism and hospitality sector’s direct contribution to GDP in 2016, was $71.53 billion, according to India Brand Equity Foundation.
‘Rising market’
According to 2006-17 estimates, the direct contribution of tourism and hospitality to GDP is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 14% and the direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP is expected to reach $147.96 billion by 2027.
Priceline Group-owned booking.com competes with Google, MakeMyTrip and Expedia. Priceline acquired Booking.com in 2005 for $133 million.
“We have bookings of 17 rooms per second in our 1.4 million hotels,” Ms. Lahoti said. “In India’s north-east, where there is poor road and Internet connectivity we are planning to add 3,500 properties. The key differentiator is our different price points we offer to our customers, from $20 to $200.”
The company earns 65% of its revenue from domestic travellers in India. It plans to include lodges, guest houses and villas to its hotel list.
Bo oking.com , earlier this month, acquired a software firm called Evature, which is based in Tel Aviv and offers natural language and chatbot-related technologies for hotels, airlines, travel agencies, and airports. The company is also looking at the start-up space for new ventures.
In June it announced that India’s Authenticook, which connects local cuisine made in the region with travellers, received a €200,000 grant as part of a programme to encourage 10 sustainable start-ups.
