EaseMyTrip, the country’s second largest travel platform, is planning to ramp up non-air travel booking segment business that include hotel stays, bus and train ticketing, etc, even as it plans to expand into forex exchange services and serviced apartments. Moreover, discounting, which had moved up during Covid times, is now tapering, as demand improves and travel picks up.

According to Prashant Pitti, Co-founder, EaseMyTrip, discounts which were in the 2.8 per cent range in FY21 moved up to 4.4 per cent in FY22. However, on a y-o-y comparison, discounts have come down to 3.2 per cent in Q4 FY22 versus 3.7 per cent in Q4FY21. The outbreak of Omicron did impact Q4 numbers, but the Q1 (April–June) numbers have been “encouraging” and bookings “have picked up very well”.

“Trends suggest there will be a tapering down of discounts now. Businesses are achieving pre-Covid level numbers, and demand is up across the travel segment. Air travel is picking up and so are non-air travel segments like hotel bookings,” he told BusinessLine.

For instance, air segment (revenues) for Q4 was 13 per cent, and 57 per cent for FY22. Hotel nights booking in FY22 was up by 136 per cent. For FY22, the company’s adjusted revenues (net of discounts and convenience fees) rose 102 per cent to ₹400 crore, while EBITDA improved over 23 per cent to ₹147 crore. Profit after tax stood at ₹105 crore, up 72 per cent.

Non-air segment

Apart from flights and hotels, train and bus ticketing services have seen a 157 per cent jump in revenues last fiscal and are expected to be the future growth drivers of the company. Air segment bookings (net of cancellations) – in FY22 were to the tune of 70.9 lakhs – witnessed a 57 per cent y-o-y jump.

“We are also exploring new verticals like currency exchange services. Work is on for getting the necessary permission and clearances. Plans are on to expand in overseas markets like the UK, the US, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore, apart from Dubai,” Pitti added.

Serviced apartments is another area where the company expects good growth. “We intend to be the No. 1 player in the next three years, specially by growing organically with non-air segments driving growth,” he said.

Market share for EaseMyTrip continues to be in the 10 per cent plus range; and nearly 90 per cent of its turnover comes from B2C segment. In order to expand the non-air segment, EaseMyTrip acquired two companies — Spree Hospitality, a 1,200 room-keys hospitality management company and YoloBus Traveltech, a premium intercity mobility platform.

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