MakeMyTrip to increase rental footprint in India

US / India: Online travel aggregator MakeMyTrip [MMT] is set to grow its short-term rental footprint in India as it plans to add more than 10,000 villas, private properties and apartments in the next 12 months.

According to a Mint report, company executives are seeking to compete with Airbnb, Indian travel aggregators and startups, including Cleartrip, Vista Room, MiStay and SaffronStays.

MakeMyTrip COO Vipul Prakash said that as homestays have emerged steadily in India, the firm is targeting leisure destinations such as Goa, Coorg and Manali for its growth strategy

Currently, the company claims to have up to 25,000 homestays that account for up to seven per cent of total revenue, and it now wants to double that in the next year.

Earlier this year, Airbnb announced that India was being targeted as one of its top three potential growth markets, due to its emphasis on promoting local culture and traditions, highlighting growth regions and equipping the country’s workforce with more skills.

Airbnb currently claims to have more than 54,000 listings in India spanning across 100 cities. It also says that it has seen 70 per cent growth since launching there and that it has hosted over three million guests in that time.

With the launch of other players in the hospitality space such as OYO, there is a more diverse range of accommodation options available to travellers moving about in India.

According to an India Brand Equity Foundation [IBEF] report, India is set to be ranked among the top five business travel market globally by 2030, with business travel expenditure in the country expected to triple until 2030 from 2015.

India’s international tourist travels are also expected to reach $30 million by 2028, and medical tourism is predicted to reach $9 billion by next year.

For more information, visit the MakeMyTrip website here.