OTAs ENTER THE ARENA
Some major online travel agencies are now entering the Middle East market to capitalise on this development. Makemytrip, India’s biggest online travel company recently launched a Middle East version of its site (makemytrip.ae). The company plans to invest a “few million dollars” in the Middle East over the next two years.

Amit Saberwal, senior vice president, International markets said the site was launched due to consumer demand.

“The highest number of visitors on makemytrip.com outside India and the US were from the Middle East. We have also seen transactions originating from the Middle East so we decided to launch makemytrip.ae offering flights, hotels and holidays customised for Middle East customers.”

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Saberwal predicts major growth in the online travel sector: “As per credit card industry sources over 10% of transactions are made online of which travel ranks at the top. But over the next few years we will see an exponential increase in online travel.”

Another major Indian OTA, Cleartrip, has also launched a local version — Cleartrip.ae. Tarique Khatri, VP, business development says the company plans to invest close to US$10 million in the Middle East market in a bid to become the leading online travel company in the region.

Khatri estimates that while currently only 10% of tickets are sold online in the Middle East, the potential for online travel in the region is “phenomenal”.

“One of the most interesting things about the Middle East is that the internet population is growing incredibly fast — it’s one of the fastest growing in the world.

While there are no official numbers in terms of the e-commerce market in this region, there are different numbers floating around, ranging from $35 billion to $100 billion.

“More importantly, after meeting up with a lot of airlines in the region, they said close to 25% of their transactions were happening online. This was a clear indication to us that there was definitely big potential for an online travel agent in this market.”

Since launching, Cleartrip.ae has received more than 30,000 travel bookings, and in February had over 250,000 unique visitors. The company is targeting a three-fold growth in the region Middle East this year.

“We will do whatever is required for us to grow and be the leader in this market,” said Khatri. “By this time next year we should be three times as big as what we are today.”