Vertical Social Networks, the future of

online travel distribution

A closer look at India and OkTataByebye.com

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Travel Distribution India 2007 w w w. O k t a t a b y e b y e . c o m >> Share I Discover I Travel
 CONSUMERS ARE SPENDING NEARLY
TWICE AS MUCH TIME ONLINE
than they did only four years ago…
… mostly exchanging credible information

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings study Sept 2007

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 The Impact of Consumer Generated Media

A new Skew in the Time Spent on the Web's 4 key activities

Communications Content Commerce Search

• Communications' share of time has dropped to 33%

• Content online, saw huge growth - increasing from 34% to 47%
of time spent
• As Search efficiency grows, consumers can easily access what
they are looking for & simply spend more time with that Content

Communications Content Commerce Search

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings study Sept 2007 , OPA June 2007

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 The Facts, in this ‘New’ reality
Communications Content Commerce Search

• 77 % of online shoppers use reviews and ratings when purchasing

• 86 % of respondents said they'd trust a friend's / user recommendation
over a critic's/ experts review,
• 63 % of all WOM is positive

…and the growth of Content has been mostly led by

• Social networking - a unique platform where users can connect with one
another & exchange a wealth of mutually interesting/ relevant content
• Traditionally offline information activities - news, entertainment
information moving online
• Proliferation and popularity of Video

Sources: JupiterResearch, CompUSA-iPerceptions study, MarketingSherpa

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 Smelling the Coffee…Here in India

“ India is the fastest growing T&T market

with CAGR ~10% for next 10 years ”

Source: PhocusWright – India Online Report; WTTC

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 Relevance… a glimpse within

• 84% of online buyers (10.8M) have bought travel

online
• Typical buyer demographic : 24-37yrs Male; Owns
car+ ;Salaried
• Long Tail evident : Geographic spread of buyers
over 500 towns
• Arguably the fastest online shift globally - grown to
40% in 3 yrs

Source : JuxtConsult Survey Apr 07

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 Where’s this leading to

• People are using the ‘wisdom of many’ to take

informed decisions & we should be part of the
‘Smarter’ / ‘Wiser’ decision
• Increasingly, rich media are helping build
involvement and relevance that aid action and
affinity

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 Competition

• Hotting up – entries of well-funded players

– Raahi.com from Yatra.com ( funding: Norwest + Reliance Cap + TV18)
– The CleartripBlog on Cleartrip.com ( funding: Kleiner Perkins +
Sherpalo)
TravelGuru.com have added reviews
–
– Tripadvisor.com
• M&A begun –HolidayIQ.com (the Times group part acquisition)
• Revenue focus expected next fiscal

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 How has the Journey been so far

Approx 5 months from launch…

• Growth @ 27% MoM, while the UGC universe
shows a growth of 25% MoM
• Modest but growing
– Avg visits : 60,000 per month
– Avg page views / visit: 6.7 per month
– Promo Spikes at over 100,000 visits per month

Source: Nielsen//NetRatings study Sept 2007

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 The Shape of things to come
Industry OkTataByebye.com

 Multiple reviews of more than 1000 hotels and

• Focus shift from Air to Hotel / growing, star rating discarded, member rating
holidays among OTAs prime

• Travel 2.0 CSF  Ver ‘nXet’ more interactive with user gen
content; recco’s and rating as prime.
Mash-ups and other 2.0 features add value

• More competition: self-expression and  Transparency and unbiased truths from

information sources multiply – credibility members
concerns

 Partnering with mobile service providers – Airtel,

• M-commerce to redefine anytime, Nokia… though broadband will be a concern
anywhere

• Hybrid Feedback models emerge, offline  Innovation in information delivery & access
powers online and vise-versa channels – to straddle online and offline

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 WAP and Mobile

mobile.travelportal.com

• Leverage the penetration on mobile here

in India
• Have mobile interfaces with online to
start
• There are 25mn internet users but 60mn
WAP phones
• With approx 27mn WAP users
• Having a WAP site that will cater to the
core business, utilizes an opportunity
• Plus Mobile Search, that search engines
will divert, will have a high ‘sale’
potential

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 Few thoughts: a Multi-variate approach to
revenue

Over 65% of online users researching information, give

more credibility to User reviews, even in India
Revenue sources are those with interests in reaching to and
leveraging the power of an influencing ‘passion group’
• Other OTA’s both for advertising and for powering
widgets
• Hotels and hotel chains
• Tourism promotion boards
• Companies into Travel accessories

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 • This Business model would ride
– Advertising
– Powering transactional content
– Customer Acquisition/ transition/ switch
– Applications/ widgets that demand focused
placement
– Real-time authenticated Research
– Technology embracement

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 In this new world of interconnectedness, Value is not
a coupon, discount, or freebie.

Value is about how the experience, changed

users' expectations or preconceptions, of just
about anything

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Thank you

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