KAHINI CHAKRABORTY – Mumbai
Yatra dot com is investing heavily in technological upgradation. It recently launched a new product ‘Hold your booking’ facility for customers on international flights. The company will also be launching an EMI ticket payment facility for customers shortly. It has already launched the first phase of its new product offerings and a revamped website. The entire rollout of the revamped website will be done in a phased manner over a period of 45 days. The company has also set up a MICE team. In a bid to strengthen the company’s connect with the masses and increase the brand’s recall value in tier II and tier III cities as well as overseas, the company announced Bollywood actor Salman Khan as the brand ambassador of Yatra.com. In one of its kind of association, the actor has not only come onboard as the brand ambassador but has also taken a minority stake in the company.
Talking on the sidelines of the press conference organised in Mumbai to announce the new brand ambassador, Dhruv Shringi, CEO and co-founder, Yatra.com said, “The partnership is part of our overall strategy to reach out to new mass markets and associating with Salman Khan will enable us to do the same.”
When asked on how is the company looking at garnering more number of market sales and attracting customers from tier II and tier III cities in India, Shringi added, “We are looking at a combination of setting up physical distribution centres and conduct above the line marketing initiatives. A lot of technological investments are also taking place so that travel agents and end consumers can be provided with a good platform for travel bookings. As internet peneration is rising in India there are a lot of people who have access to fixed internet and mobile internet, and looking at this opportunity we are also in the process of launching mobile apps. We have already launched an Android app and will be launching an iPhone app shortly.”
