Cleartrip, an Online Travel Agency (OTA) has appointed Stuart Crighton as CEO, taking over from investor Sandeep Murthy of Sherpalo Ventures and KPCB. Murthy is now Chairman. Crighton is one of the founders of Cleartrip. The company has also laid off 42 of its 300 employees - around 11 percent. VCCircle has the details.
Over the past few months, OTAs have come under tremendous pressure because of a decline in their commissions. That situation is expected to worsen with zero percent commissions from October onwards.
There is hope, though: crude prices have been gradually declining from their peak, and are now near $100 a barrel, down from over $140 a barrel in June, which is when Airlines went in for cost-cutting, citing high Aviation Turbine Fuel costs. With a decline in crude Oil prices, airlines might just go back on their decision to cut commissions. More on the impact of Zero percent commissions here.
Related:
–Yatra Launches In US, UK; Impact Of Zero Percent Commissions
– IRCTC Does $102 Million In Online Transactions In August; Payment Trends; HDFC, ICICI, Cash Cards Significant
