Global travel search engine KAYAK enters India

Global travel search engine KAYAK today officially announced its entry into the Indian market, providing innovative travel tools to help people search, plan and manage their travel.
Having pioneered the category globally, the company helps travellers get the information they need before they book and offers tools and features to assist them throughout their trip, KAYAK Director Southeast Asia and India Imbert Fung told PTI here.
He said the website and mobile app search hundreds of travel sites at once so that travellers have the information they need to make the best decisions.
KAYAK will help travellers to search and compare prices with ease and avail themselves of services like price alerts, price forecasts and free itinerary management with trips, without having to go to multiple websites.

In India, the company will initially offer information of hotels, flights and car rentals, he said.
"However, going forward, as we grow in the country and depending on the demand we will also introduce other global offerings like cruises, packages and activities," he added.

Looking at the evolution of the travel market in India, Fung said it is the right time to enter the market here.
"India is a rapidly growing travel market and has continued its impressive growth over the past several years. In addition, the Indian online travel market has immense potential, with increasing penetration and acceptance across domestic and international markets. We feel its a good time to enter the country providing more added benefits to customers. India is one of the focus market for us and is one of the top one among the Asia Pacific countries," he said.

Other top Asia Pacific markets of Pacific are Korea, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, he said.
Fung said the company has aggressive plans to promote the company in India with both through the digital as well as the traditional media.
"To build brand awareness in the country we have aggressive promotional plans. Initially, we have begun with the digital channels, including the social media and ecommerce among others. However, we are planning to promote the brand through the traditional medium as well," he said.
In India, KAYAK has partnered with the top local online travel service providers, airlines and hotels to help ensure that customers will get the best results from across hundreds of websites with just a few clicks.

Kayak had witnessed 1.5 billion searches in 2016, and operates more than 40 international sites in 20 languages. The company is an independently managed subsidiary of The Priceline Group.