Articles tagged “india”

Institutional investors seem to have confidence that Oyo will be able to survive the pandemic and live to fight on.

Critics have been saying for years that Oyo needed to get its house in order and to tamp down on its reckless growth plans. Whether that actually happens or not will become clear over the next year or two.

India's devastating second wave of the pandemic is arresting the pace of the travel recovery, at least for the short-term. It's too early to tell if the shrinking industry will be able to cater to the vast pent-up demand once Covid is under control.

Despite being excluded from any government Covid relief to date, tourism stakeholders remain resilient and hopeful, with a future closer to vaccines plus promising backyard tourism trends.

With Chinese travelers staying within the country, destinations and tour groups are wooing Indian vacationers. In other top travel stories this week, Klook raised $200 million in funding, Alaska Airlines made commitments to the 737 MAX, and tourism groups can't agree on testing and vaccination policies.

MakeMyTrip hasn't had to tap into its credit facilities recently, and that's a decent sign as it takes advantage of India's tentative Covid and travel recoveries.

Homestays and guest houses are still a small market in India, but it's mainly a problem of supply and not demand now. Investing in the country's alternative accommodations is a long-term bet, but the potential is large.

It's an updated version of the classic bait-and-switch, and any travel business that comes in will be welcome after the Ebix deal fell through earlier this year.

Executives are fine-tuning their strategy by pushing more into business travel management, tours-and-activities sales, and international bus booking.

SpiceJet has championed reforms of airport processes that have already changed how all air travelers in India fly on all airlines. In a move reported here first, the budget carrier will begin to sell some of the tech it has developed to other airlines.