As a part of our #Outlook15 series, we asked online travel companies - iXiGo, MakeMyTrip and TaxiForSure about their focus areas for 2015, and the challenges that the online travel segment needs to address. Answers have been shortened for brevity. Which according to you were the top developments and roadblocks with respect to the online travel segment in 2014? Why? Aloke Bajpai, iXiGo - Growth of mobile, including mobile web traffic, searches & bookings on mobile and app downloads. Rajesh Magow, MakeMyTrip - New entrants like Air Vistara and Air Asia in Indian aviation energized the sector that was still battling capacity crunch and expensive airfares in 2013. - Discounted airline promotions and flash sales introduced a lot of offline fliers to online search and booking. Raghunandan G, TaxiForSure - Taxi aggregator segment witnessed a lot of traction on funding from investors in 2014. - Mobile apps had a significant impact on the online taxi business with customers preferring the use of apps for booking as opposed to other options. - Introduction of mobile wallet services. What according to you were some of the changes in the segment from 2013 to 2014? Aloke Bajpai, iXiGo - Travelers are increasingly using the internet for searching, comparing, researching and planning before their trips, as they discover how much time and money that helps them save. - Emergence of startups in niche areas such as activities, short duration tours, travel guides, itinerary management and trip planning. - Ground transportation as a sector has heated up…
