With the online space clustered with a lot of online travel agents and travel search websites, How does HolidayIQ work towards creating and maintaining a niche for itself?
We believe that the most important ingredient in getting a great holiday is to have the right information at the time of planning the holiday (ie before booking a holiday). We also believe that the information that is critical for smart holiday planning is traveller feedback (ie traveller reviews on hotels, destinations, etc) from other Indian travellers. HolidayIQ provides every Indian traveller with deep insight and information gathered from other Indian travellers through User Reviews.
What are the interesting travel booking patterns you have seen among travellers?
Over 40 lakh Indian travellers plan their holidays every month on HolidayIQ.com. The most important travel pattern of Indians is their deep interest and passion in discovering India (ie domestic travel). We find that an overwhelming majority of urban Indians are keen to take multiple holidays each year. The primary focus of most of these domestic holidays are weekend breaks to tourism destinations within 300 kilometres of the city of residence.
What are the company’s future business expansion plans?
The company plans to reach out to more Indian travellers. In the next 12 months, we expect to substantially increase the audience for HolidayIQ from the current level of four million travellers per month. We will be soon launching a mobile app called hiq!APP which will enable travellers to share reviews.
With about 30000 hotels, is the company looking at adding new inventories to its website?
HolidayIQ adds between 200 to 700 properties every month. Most of these are properties that our members have discovered and want to add new reviews for. In order to enable our fast-growing community of Indian travellers to find the accommodation of their choice, HolidayIQ lists a wide range of options with rooms costing as high as Rs 100,000 per room night and as low as Rs 300 per room night.
How has the bookings for travel and hotels been in terms of revenues for the company this year?
HolidayIQ’s revenues arise from directing the travellers who visit our site to other travel vendors (primarily online travel agencies, traditional travel agencies or hotels). HolidayIQ gets paid for Leads and Clicks. Having said that, the company has seen significant traction in revenues with a growth of over 200 per cent in the last 12 months.
What further developments could be seen in the online space in future?
We see travellers across India coming together, constantly sharing reviews online and enabling smarter and accurate holiday planning. We believe that a travel experience is never complete until you review your experience. We see this belief syncing in to more and more evolved travellers.
