‘ABC’ changes the travel scenario

Disruptive technologies such as ‘A’rtificial Intelligence, ‘B’lockchain, and ‘C’hatbots are reinventing the travel wheel, says Dhruv Shringi, Co-Founder & CEO, Yatra.com. He also talks about the major achievements of the online travel agency in 2018.

Q How did the previous year fare for Yatra in terms of growth?

The year 2018 was a positive one for the tourism sector at large, with travellers from all across the world investing memorable travels. It was an important year for Yatra as well, as we continued to grow our corporate side of the business. Recently, we acquired the corporate travel business of PL Worldways to strengthen ourselves in the southern markets of India. We also recorded growth in the hotel business and entered into a partnership with Agoda to offer our domestic inventory to their global travellers. Additionally, we introduced which allows an individual to book mid-budget and premium hotels with the ‘anytime check-in/check-out’ facility, while only paying for the time they actually use the room. Yatra also launched an Privy, aimed at the discerning traveller. It offers curated unmatched knowledge and service of a travel advisor who customises the holiday or business travel as per an individual’s needs and preferences.

Q What, according to you, are the growing technological needs and demands of Indian travellers?

With travel becoming more OTAs like Yatra are personalising their offerings as per customer preferences. Based on consumers’ buying patterns, we push relevant offers to them, recommend options for their stay, etc. Big Data, cloud technology, and personalisation are impacting the travel industry by offering customer insights that were not available previously. Chatbots, AI, voice search, and other enabling innovations are what each brand will be turning to in the coming days.

Customers are pampered for choice when it comes to travel platforms, and each brand needs to be intuitive about the changing needs and trends and act on solutions before others to be at the top of the game. At Yatra, we continuously study customer behaviour and buying patterns to understand their needs and preferences and provide services based on the same.

Q How is technology changing the way Indians are travelling?

Disruptive technologies such as learning, chatbots and blockchain are reinventing the travel wheel. Voice-based bots are revolutionising the way people interact with travel service providers and aggregators, and are ushering in the era of intelligent, personalised, omnipresent travel assistants accessible via multiple devices and in multiple languages. Search queries are becoming more conversational and with the help of voice search, the search engines understand the meaning and intent behind a query to be able to deliver best results.

Today, technology is revolutionising the way we work or do business. Big Data, cloud technology, and personalisation have a profound positive impact on the travel industry. With this new information, a business is at a better position to provide customised services, enabling a better end customer.

Q Where does technology rank in today’s travel trends?

In this day and age, where technology is the big bet of the day, consumers are spoilt for choice. New technologies help in improving customer like Yatra to deliver the best - ence to the end customer. Big Data is one such important concept that helps us to crunch data to bring out insights that can help improve personalisation, and supplyside insights. Business, these days, is also using Augmented Reality (AR) for immersive customers to have an almost

Today, AI has also become a powerful tool and by integrating it with our online search and booking process, we have been able to deliver relevant mes traveller propensity. Blockchain technology is another evolving technology that helps reduce

Lastly, Internet of Things (IoT) is another big concept in technology and is likely to dominate 2019. It enables a business to collect data and can be deployed automatically to reduce cost and improve without the need for human interjection.

Voice-based bots are revolutionising the way people interact with travel service providers and aggregators, and are ushering in the era of personalised travel assistants accessible via multiple devices