AMSTERDAM: From once having just as many ‘international quality’ hotel rooms as Las Vegas, India’s
hospitality industry
is now large enough to have many ‘winners’. So how does
Booking.com
plan to tackle this challenge? According to its global CEO
Glenn D Fogel
, the way forward is to go beyond hotel bookings.
India offers a great opportunity to us and with our ‘
connected trips
‘ vision, we plan to go big in the
Indian market
, Fogel said while interacting with media persons at the
travel booking company
‘s headquarters in Amsterdam.
“Our aim is not just to help travellers to book the perfect stay, but also enable them to have the best possible trip from beginning to end. From booking the trip to the entire experience – including flights, car rental, taxis (pre-booked & ride-hail), attractions, public transport and insurance – we aim to bring better value both to our customers and to our partners,” he said.
Booking.com’s research indicates that 40% of Indian travellers seek a connected trip experience, prioritising factors such as booking multiple aspects of their trip and flexible cancellation and refund policies, in addition to cost when choosing digital travel platforms. Fogel said many years ago, the number of rooms of international standards in India was about the same as in Las Vegas, unusual for a country of over a billion people. “That has changed and there are just a huge number of great hotels…,” he added.
(The writer was in Amsterdam at the invitation of Booking.com)
