Travelling is an incredibly fulfilling experience and even a passion for many. Even if it’s with family, friends, or all on your own, exploring new places will give you something to cherish for the rest of your life. What about all the trouble of transportation, hotels, and the confusion? If you can get rid of all that, touring would become a heavenly adventure, wouldn’t it? That goal is precisely what all the travel companies are working for. There are various such businesses in India, but recently, EaseMyTrip has become a rising brand among them.
Easemytrip is an Indian online travel company that provides holiday packages, hotel bookings, air tickets, bus bookings, and white-label services. It was founded in 2008 by Nishant Pitti. The headquarters of Easemytrip is located in Patparganj, East Delhi, and they have overseas offices in Singapore, Dubai, Maldives, and Bangkok. They also cater to the offline travel market by allowing travel agents to book domestic tickets through the website. Their strategy is a B2B2C (business to business to customer) channel and therefore gives direct access for the agents.
The business to customer (B2C) services we’re initiated in 2011, which was primarily intended to satisfy the growing travel needs of the middle-class population. In order to provide all-encompassing travel assistance for corporates, Easemytrip came up with a B2E (business to enterprise) distribution channel in 2013. The three diverse channels of enterprise have brought them the fame and customer loyalty that they have today. Within the 12 years of business, they have gathered 8.81 million users. EaseMyTrip works with 477 employees and 52,752 travel agents.
The birth of Easemytrip
The idea was formed in the minds of brothers Nishant Pitti and Rikant Pitti while they were booking flight tickets for their father who frequently had business trips. In the booking process, they saved a lot of money through online booking, and this encouraged them to put together a small scale travel agency. Their first business was set up in a house garage but soon lost all their initial funding within a couple of months. They were helped with investments from friends and family, and the significant boost came when an airline company contacted them. The airline had noticed multiple flight bookings from the Pitti brothers’ email id and offered them a partnership.
EaseMyTrip had collaborated with Air Deccan who sold tickets for 500 to 700 rupees. But soon they stopped these low prices as the profit was falling rapidly. This was an unfortunate turn for EaseMyTrip, but they hired other travel agents and lowered their commission rates. They worked with many other offline travel agents who funded them with an advance amount. They would buy tickets from the airlines as a chunk using this amount, and this process gave them a considerable discount. It was the source of most of the initial cash flow, and the brothers were able to earn good revenue.
Presently, 90% of EaseMyTrip’s income comes from the official website. When the company was launched in 2008, Nishant Pitti and Rikant Pitti were just 23 and 21 respectively. The brothers have been able to raise their business into becoming one of the largest online travel agencies in India in terms of airline ticket sales. Nishant is now the Chief Executive Officer, and Rikant is the director of EaseMyTrip. Somewhere along the way, a third brother, Prashant Pitti also joined as a director after quitting his job with HSBC in the United States.
What makes EaseMyTrip stand out?
Travel companies in India often face a run for their money due to the intense competition in this area. Even when top firms like MakeMyTrip and Goibibo are struggling to make their trade profitable, EaseMyTrip has been able to build a steady growth. It is probably their customer-friendly approach and effective sales strategies that have earned them a significant market share in the field. Their services have always maintained a certain quality which played a role in building the brand name. The unique features of EaseMyTrip are :
- The customers are not charged a convenience fee if there is no other discount or a promotion voucher
- Their pricing model is created in such a way that it avoids hidden costs which force the customers to pay a larger amount than expected
- They have an authentic technology group dedicated to building the best infrastructure and software
- The website provides a secure, advanced and customer-centric assistance
- A regularly maintained record with details of finances and performances
- A hybrid platform that encompasses a vast distribution channel
- An experienced management team with high efficiency in their duties
The services offered by EaseMyTrip include all parts of a journey such as flights, hotels, etc. The airline tickets are sold both separately and as a part of travel plans. You can also book train tickets, bus tickets, taxi rentals, etc. Hotel rooms are also sold individually or as a part of packages. In addition to this, other services provided for packages include visa processing, travel insurance, cruises, etc. They cater to customers traveling within the country as well as international journeys.
The success of EaseMyTrip over the years
After EaseMyTrip was established in 2008, international flight bookings and hotel packages were only introduced gradually. By 2015, the company’s revenue had crossed 150 million USD. They did not have to spend a single buck to attain customers. The brand was advertised by word of mouth owing to the remarkable ‘no-convenience fees’ strategy. They soon launched the Android application and introduced new services like travel insurance through EaseMyTrip.
Between 2015 and 2017, the company briefly dealt with the coal industry. They bought coal worth 2.2 million USD to be resold. In 2018, they collaborated with IRCTC for train tickets. EaseMyTrip partnered with FoodForTravel in September 2019. Free ready-to-eat meals were arranged for the customers as a part of this alliance. They have also co-produced various movies including the big-budget period epic Manikarnika (1). They have been able to improve their connections across a wide range of partners, including hotels, buses, airlines, etc. thus availing various promotions. Gradually, EaseMyTrip has emerged as the third-largest online travel agency in our country with over 20,000 airline tickets sold every day.
