Online travel aggregator Ixigo integrates AI into core strategy for growth

Solutions for consumer pain points in travel to be first focus; monetisation to follow

Online travel aggregator (OTA) Ixigo is building an AI (artificial intelligence)-first platform to cater to the travel needs of a growing cohort of travellers coming from beyond the metro cities.

 

In an exclusive interaction with Business Standard, Aloke Bajpai, chairman and group chief executive officer, said that the company intends to look for solutions for customers even though there may not be a chance of immediate monetisation — a playbook that has attracted Dutch investor Prosus to take up a 15 per cent stake.

 

With a 93.99 per cent penetration in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, spread across over 2,400 towns, the travel-tech platform is being built for the “next billion users.”

 

“Our playbook is very simple. If there is a customer problem that’s unsolved and acute enough, we will try to solve it even if there’s no monetisation around it. For everything we’ve built, revenue has been a second-order effect,” Bajpai said.

 

Starting out in 2007 as a metasearch platform for flights, it added trains and buses, and partnered with IRCTC to turn into a full-fledged OTA. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic, after which it made its two big acquisitions — Confirmtkt and Abhibus — in 2021. After launching hotels on the app, the company debuted on the bourses in 2024.

 

In the financial year 2024–25 (FY25), the company’s revenue from operations rose 39 per cent to Rs 914.2 crore, while gross transaction value (GTV) rose to Rs 14,971.6 crore.

 

However, it is not the consolidation or fast-growing revenues that set the company apart.

 

For Dutch technology investor Prosus, which bought a 10.1 per cent stake in Ixigo parent Le Travenues Technology for Rs 1,296 crore in early October and increased its holding in the company to 15.16 per cent later in the month, it is empathy that stands out.

 

“There were multiple things that stood out for us about Ixigo as a company. Among them is the strong customer empathy that the company and founders have, which has allowed them to understand key customer pain points — be it the quality of buses or challenges in hotels. They understand what issues matter most to users and have built unique solutions and products to address them. This deep understanding of customer pain points was very interesting to see,” said Gaurav Kothari, principal–investments, Prosus India, in a recent interaction with Business Standard.

 

For Ixigo, customer experience remains of utmost importance, and it has launched services like Flight Tracker Pro and Price Lock to add value to bookings. The latest such launch is visa rejection protection.

 

“One of the big fears for customers is when they buy a ticket and then have their visa rejected — something that’s become more frequent with the tightening US regime and even with Schengen or UK visas. To allay that fear, we launched a product that refunds the ticket if the visa is rejected,” Bajpai said, adding that they are working to make the product more attuned to market nuances, such as when travellers don’t know visa timelines.

 

“For example, booking a European flight just two weeks ahead when you’re unlikely to get a visa that quickly.”

 

The company’s market share across categories has been steadily growing. In air travel, it holds close to 10 per cent of the OTA market, while in trains it has crossed 60 per cent and is gaining share year-on-year (Y-o-Y). In buses, Ixigo is the second-largest player with a share in the mid to late teens. The goal, then, is to become a one-stop travel solution platform — and the strategy is two-pronged.

 

The first is to deepen penetration and enhance offerings for the next billion users — by increasing the frequency of engagement and volume of transactions; investing in online and offline brand-building to increase top-of-mind awareness; and expanding last-mile transportation offerings, including cabs, metro, and corporate travel bookings.

 

The second is to leverage AI to create hyper-personalised experiences, introduce new peace-of-mind products that offer innovative value-added services, and expand monetisation through contextual targeting.

 

“Another focus area is hotels. We grew on the back of multimodal transport — trains, buses, flights — and as we hit a critical mass of over 500 million annual users and over 80 million monthly users, we realised we need to expand into other verticals. We began building out hotels about a year and a half ago and are nearing product–market fit. There’s still a lot broken in that industry, especially for budget and mid-segment travellers,” Bajpai said.

 

According to him, only about 20 per cent of hotel bookings in India happen online, and even less for budget stays. So, there’s significant headroom for growth.  Meanwhile, 25 per cent of proceeds from Prosus, amounting to Rs 323.89 crore approximately will be used for working capital requirements by March 31, 2027. Organic growth opportunities will take up 25 per cent by December 31, 2028, inorganic opportunities will take up 25 per cent by March 31, 2028, and the remaining 25 per cent will be used for general corporate purposes by March 31, 2028.

 

“In the coming quarters and years, we’ll continue investing in improving customer experience and solving core pain points, just as we did with trains and buses earlier. It takes patience and courage to fix what others overlook — and we’ll do that,” he said.