A lot has been spoken about how indian online travel is booming! There is also a lot of news articles on all sorts of travel sites poping up. And now it seems even international players are down in India to play the travel game!

In an interview Indian MD - Himanshu Singh of the Internationally reknowned travel portal Travelocity speaks about his companies usp and strategy in India. Here is an excerpt:

What do you see as your USP? In terms of your product portfolio, what do you think gives you a cutting edge when it comes to serving the customers?

Travelocity, a Sabre company as an international leader in online travel has been a pioneer since its launch a decade ago. Our robust technology platforms, strong global and local supplier relationships and spirit of customer championship have helped in evolving products and offerings that are best in class globally. For Travelocity India, we will reveal our product suite at launch, but believe the combination of a global trusted brand, regional support and in-country management of the site, products and merchandising is critical to our success, and differentiator against many local and anticipated competitors.

What are the challenges encountered in integrating traditional travel agents to the Internet? What do you think are the major challenges for online travel companies in India as the volumes grow in the time to come?

The key challenge for local OTAs would be their technology platforms, mid and back office systems. We also believe delivering consistently a great value proposition and good customer service would be challenging. This is where a company like Travelocity with its global experience and expertise, coupled with a localised offering will be able to differentiate.

On the other hand ezeego1.com the portal backed by Cox & Kings has incorporated a lot of interesting features. Speaking on this new venture, Peter Kerkar, global CEO, Cox & Kings, said, “ezeego1.com is unique in a way because it is a travel meta search site with booking capabilities. It is a platform where suppliers and end customers meet to get real time information and transaction capability online. All travel providers, both online and offline, will be represented on ezeego1.com.” A very interesting feature their portal has is an exclusive tie-up with Rail Europe. It enables passengers to book rail tickets anywhere in Europe where Rail Europe has a network.

Now the question that comes to my mind and is also being rightfully raised by Om Malik is that "Is the consumer internet space in India getting too crowded?". Four travel portals have raised over $45 million in VC dollars from the likes of Norwest Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and other Silicon Valley heavy weights.

And add to that an influx of foriegn based portals looking to launch in India and the traditional travel agents looking to launch their own portals! phew!

Its a crowd for sure! The day aint far when a few will perish in the crowd and the real travel sites would stand up..

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