MakeMyTrip Shifts Focus to Hotels and Buses Amid Air Travel Dip
MakeMyTrip reported $2.7 billion in second-quarter gross bookings, growing 21% as the company pivots toward hotels and buses during a weak domestic air travel market in India.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- MakeMyTrip hit $2.7 billion in gross bookings for Q2, marking a 21% year-over-year increase.
- Non-air businesses expanded to 63.2% of the company's total gross bookings mix.
- Domestic air departures in India fell 7% while ticket fares surged by 25-30%.
- AI assistant Myra successfully powers over 3,000 daily bookings for the platform.
The online travel battle in India is shifting away from traditional flights and hotels toward fragmented sectors that have yet to be fully digitized. MakeMyTrip is leveraging a weaker domestic aviation environment to accelerate its expansion into hotels, buses, and intercity cabs, which it views as the primary drivers for long-term market opportunity.
India's largest online travel agency announced gross bookings of $2.7 billion for the September quarter, representing its fiscal second quarter. This figure represents a 21% year-over-year growth on a constant-currency basis, accompanied by an adjusted operating profit reaching $46.2 million.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
While air travel previously served as the primary growth engine, it emerged as a soft spot during the quarter. Domestic air departures across India decreased by 7% and international departures dropped by 4%, compounded by airfares surging roughly 25% to 30%. Despite this slowdown, MakeMyTrip maintained over 30% of the domestic air-ticketing market share.
Non-air operations now account for 63.2% of the gross bookings mix, rising from 1.5% a year prior. Standalone hotel room nights expanded by 18.6%, with domestic room nights increasing by more than 20%. Meanwhile, bus volumes grew by nearly 25%, and intercity cab bookings surged over 40% from a relatively small baseline.
"The company is driving online penetration by aggregating fragmented supply — independent hotels, homestays, private bus operators and local cab operators — much of which still operates offline."
Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip
MakeMyTrip's strategic push to digitize fragmented offline supply highlights a crucial evolution in emerging travel markets. By diversifying beyond volatile aviation markets into ground transportation and local accommodations, the company insulates itself against airline pricing pressures while creating a sticky, comprehensive travel ecosystem that captures traveler demand across multiple touchpoints.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Artificial intelligence functions as a core distribution layer within this expansion strategy. The Myra AI assistant manages over 90,000 daily conversations, facilitates more than 3,000 daily bookings, and achieves a conversion rate roughly 1.7 times higher than non-users. This conversion multiplier climbs above 2.1 times among customers residing in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Additionally, semantic search capabilities deliver a conversion rate roughly 24% higher than standard filtering tools.
Source: Skift
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