Online hotel bookings finally taking off in India

After years of advertising the lowest possible fares for airlines and rail, Indian online travel sites like Makemytrip, Hotels.com, Goibibo and Yatra are talking hotels. It is a business which has remained largely untapped all these years, as Indian travelers preferred to book hotels over the phone.

Makemytrip’s revenue from hotels and packages through its Indian and global subsidiaries, increased by 55.2% to $48.6 million in 2012 from $31.3 million in 2011. PhoCusWright says revenue generated through online hotel bookings in India increased by 28% to Rs 3,369 crore in 2012 from Rs 2,634 crore in 2011. For most big hotels, online room bookings are growing almost 100% year on year.