Amit Saberwal, senior vice president, International markets, Makemytrip.com

Makemytrip.com is India’s biggest online travel company, with a travel market share of more than 50% of all online sales. The company launched a dedicated Middle East website makemytrip.ae last year offering payment in dirhams and recently announced a tie-up with SNTTA Travel & Tours in Dubai.

Q: Why did you decide to launch makemytrip in the Middle East?
A: High internet penetration in the region and credit card usage are two factors that were considered.

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Q: How much are you investing in the Middle East market?
A: In terms of development and marketing we are looking at spending a few million dollars over two years. It will be difficult to pin down a figure now. We have entered into a strategic alliance with SNTTA Travel & Tours and will be using their retail network to dispense our holiday and other products.

Q: What are your targets to grow the business?
A: We are among the first few OTAs to launch in the UAE and should be have a significant share of the market. The main competition arises from airline websites. We are anticipating a 200% increase in the year 2011-2012.

Q: Are OTAs stealing market share from the traditional travel agents in this market?
A: OTAs offer clients many more options as well as the convenience to book at anytime and any day; hence clients will be inclined to consider OTAs. The real threat to the traditional travel agent comes from airlines and hotels who are aggressively pursuing clients and offering them a host of benefits if they book directly on their website.

As a matter of fact we have developed a B2B module, which offers a single platform for travel agents, and they can book all airlines, hotels, rail tickets instantaneously. We have over 5,000 agents actively using our B2B platform and it has been a win-win situation for both us and travel agents.

Q: How is the business going so far?
A: We have seen a steady month-on-month increase, which is an indication that online travel will witness growth in years to come. With increased internet penetration and the launch of various online mobile applications we do anticipate online travel to grow.

We will investing in customising our products and technology for the market. We have a strategic alliance with SNTTA Travel & Tours and a business head in place for the region.

Q: How are you reaching out to the Middle East consumer?
A: We have a two tier strategy for the Middle East. We are increasing our presence on all online resources such as search, social and a host of news and information websites. Separately, we will be running offline campaigns in print, radio and TV to persuade the not-so online savvy consumers to start transacting online.