MakeMyTrip’s Magow on opportunities for growth in India

While its competitors in India are discounting prices, MakeMyTrip doesn’t aspire to be “the cheapest in the market all the time,” says Rajesh Magow, the OTA’s co-founder and group CEO.

“What is helping us is that we’ve been able to establish our brand more on the back of experience, and then you get stickiness and you get more repeat,” he says. “You obviously have to be tactical as well to stay competitive.”

Magow spoke Nov. 16 at The Phocuswright Conference in Phoenix. Founded in 2000, MakeMyTrip has seen revenue return to pre-pandemic levels this fiscal year despite a lag in outbound travel from India, according to Magow.

Over the years, MakeMyTrip has grown along with India’s physical and digital infrastructure, he says. The country has reached about 600 million internet users, including 150 million who are shopping on e-commerce platforms.

And, he adds, the country has vast potential for growth: “We’ve got a middle class which is about 250 to 300 million and growing, and the disposable income is growing.

There are people who are taking more holidays than ever before, and they to want explore the world.”

Magow calls MakeMyTrip a “vertical super app.” The company’s product line has expanded from four or five to around 20 products.

“We don’t want to go outside of travel,” he says, “but within travel we made sure that we will absolutely cater to every single travel use case.” Magow observes that home stays, which were never popular in India, are now catching on.

Although the company is predominately B2C, Magow sees opportunities in B2B2C.

“We are definitely trying to position ourselves as an omni-channel company,” he says.

Watch below for Magow’s full interview with Siew Hoon Yeoh, founder of WebInTravel and editorial director of Northstar Travel Group Asia.