India’s online travel agents (OTAs) sector is on the rise. Some of the leading players in the space, such as MakeMyTrip, Ixigo, EaseMyTrip, and Yatra Online, have all demonstrated rapid growth in the last financial year.
While some witnessed notable growth during the fiscal year ending March 2023, some turned profitable during the period, according to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible .
MakeMyTrip led the list of the top five OTAs in the Indian market in terms of operating revenue. The 2000 founded company recorded a 95% hike to Rs 4,863 crore in FY23 as compared to the Rs 2,492 crore it recorded in FY22.
While it made a majority, 57% of its operating revenue from hotels and packages vertical amounting to Rs 2,769 crore, the air ticketing and bus ticketing contributed around 25%, Rs 1,212 crore, and 12.6%, Rs 614 crore, respectively. The remaining Rs 268 crore was generated through other operating activities during the fiscal year.
MMT spent a total of Rs 1,082 crore on employee benefits and Rs 833 crore on marketing and promotional expenses which contributed 21.7% and 16.7%, respectively, to the total expenses, Rs 4,986 crore, incurred by the company in FY23. With a loss of Rs 373.6 crore in FY22, the company managed to keep its losses in check in FY23 witnessing a significant drop to Rs 91.6 crore.
Gurgaon-based Ixigo grabbed the second spot with a 32% growth in scale, from Rs 379.6 crore in FY22 to Rs 501 crore during FY23. The company turned profitable the same year with profits reaching Rs 23.4 crore against Rs 21 crore loss in FY22.
It generated Rs 284 crore, 56.7%, of its revenue from train ticketing while the air and bus ticketing amounted to Rs 97.12 crore and Rs 86 crore, respectively.
Ixigo spent a total of Rs 126 crore on employee benefits and Rs 93 crore on marketing & promotions. The two sections collectively contributed 45% to the overall expenditure of the company in FY23.
EaseMyTrip also achieved an impressive growth in scale during the fiscal year with its operating revenue and profits surging to Rs 449 crore and Rs 134 crore respectively. The company accumulated over 90% of its revenue from air ticketing amounting to Rs 408 crore. Collections from hotels and packages stood at Rs 37.87 crore during FY23.
It spent around 19% of its total expenses on employee benefits and 29.7% on marketing and promotional expenses.
Yatra Online also managed to grow its operating scale by 92% to Rs 380 crore in FY23 from Rs 198 crore in FY22. The company also turned profitable during the fiscal with Rs 7.63 crore profits against Rs 30.8 crore loss in FY22.
The company generated 47.8%, Rs 178 crore, revenue from air ticketing, 38%, Rs 144.5 crore, via hotels and packages, 11.1%, Rs 42.1 crore, from advertising and the remaining Rs 15.4 crore through other operating activities during FY23.
Employee benefits expenses registered at Rs 109 crore while marketing and promotional cost stood at Rs 33.6 crore during FY23. These two costs collectively contributed to 37% of the total expenditure of Rs 385 crore.
Flipkart-owned Cleartrip’s scale shrank 10% to Rs 49.3 crore during the last fiscal year (FY23) when compared to Rs 54.7 crore in FY22. Although it did not disclose the bifurcation of revenue, it makes a majority of its revenue through air ticketing and hotel bookings.
The company spent over 55% of its total expenditure on employee benefits and marketing and promotions (Rs 183.7 crore) during FY23. This collectively amounts to more than the operating revenue generated by the company during the year. Its losses nearly doubled from Rs 358.6 crore in FY22 to Rs 684 crore in FY23.
MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip, and Yatra Online are listed or public companies. EaseMyTrip stood at top followed by Ixigo and Yatra when comparing expense to revenue ratio. Ixigo was on top in terms of revenue among profit generating and non-listed OTAs. Cleartrip is the top loss-making company among the others in the list.