EaseMyTrip to Focus on Growing Its Non-Air Business

Skift Take

EaseMyTrip had planned diversification of its operations when it went public, with a focus on growing the non-air business. Now, it is delivering just that.

Bulbul Dhawan

Indian online travel company EaseMyTrip will be focusing on growing its non-air business in fiscal 2025, Prashant Pitti, its co-founder, said during an earnings call Friday. 

In the January to March quarter of 2024, the company’s hotel segment recorded a nearly 40% increase in bookings, while there was a 53% growth in bookings in other non-air segments, including holiday packages, activities, and train bookings. 

“A lot of growth will come from the non-air business,” he said and added that the company’s focus on growing its non-air business in recent quarters led to increased profitability.

“This area will continue to remain the focus for the coming year,” Pitti said. 

The company, however, will also continue to grow its air business. “The Indian airline industry is expected to grow 15% annually for the next decade. There is no other country which is expecting to have more than 100 new airports come in a decade’s time.”

EaseMyTrip’s Fourth Quarter: New Initiatives

In the fourth quarter of the 2024 financial year, the company undertook a few initiatives to drive its growth.

• Co-brand credit card: During the quarter, EaseMyTrip launched its co-brand credit card with Punjab National Bank in order to expand its reach to the customers of the bank. EaseMyTrip competitors MakeMyTrip and Yatra also have co-brand credit cards with different banks. 
• Offline expansion: The company opened four franchise stores during the quarter in order to expand its offline reach. The idea behind the franchise stores, Pitti said, to cater to customers in the smaller cities that prefer to buy holiday packages offline. 
• New hotel in Ayodhya: EaseMytrip acquired a 50% stake in Jeewani Hospitality to develop a 150-room hotel in Ayodhya. The hotel will be operated by the Radisson Hotel Group. This, however, is a one-time exception, as the company does not plan to continue the asset-heavy business model. “We are looking forward only to acquiring asset-light business models, profitable businesses,” he said.
• Venture into insurance sector: The online travel company has also entered into the insurance travel sector in order to diversify its portfolio. In this segment, EaseMyTrip’s idea is to be an insurance broking business. “We are not going to be the insurer,” Pitti said, adding that the company ventured into this segment upon observing that there was an overlap of 75% in the people booking their tickets online and people purchasing insurance online.