{"id":2809,"date":"2020-08-01T07:27:52","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T07:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/doerlife.com\/?p=2809"},"modified":"2020-08-01T07:27:52","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T07:27:52","slug":"the-story-of-make-my-trip-indias-1-travel-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebglory.com\/doerlife.com\/the-story-of-make-my-trip-indias-1-travel-website\/","title":{"rendered":"The story of Make My Trip, India\u2019s #1 travel website"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Dil toh roaming hai” par <\/em>lockdown ne pankh kaat liye hai. <\/em>Since 100+ days of lock down and cancellation of all international travel, my holiday plans did undergo some easy adjustments. Yes, that was only because I booked my airline ticket and confirmed my hotel stay with India\u2019s most successful e-travel company, Make My Trip<\/em><\/strong>. The convenience of planning and postponing\/rescheduling holidays which was once a cumbersome task has become easier now. So, how and who made it happen? This is the inspiring\u00a0story of Deepak Kalra and his start-up Make My Trip, a company that is now India\u2019s leading and #1 travel website.<\/p>\n

It was the foresight of Deepak Kalra in the year 2000, who on one hand envisioned an exponential rise in the number of Indian nationals traveling abroad and on the other hand, growth in the number of internet users in the country. The number of international travelers rose from 4.42 million in 2000 to over 26.3 million<\/a> in 2019. Internet users increased from 5.5 million in 2000 to 525 million in 2019. Thus, was born \u2018MakeMy Trip\u2019 a company that could empower the traveler by providing online travel services like flight tickets, domestic and international holiday packages, hotel reservations, rail, and bus tickets, through their website or mobile app<\/p>\n

Today Make My Trip which is listed on the NASDAQ, has 14 company-owned travel stores in 14 cities, over 30 franchisee-owned travel stores in 28 cities, and counters in four major airports in\u00a0India. The company has offices in\u00a0New York,\u00a0Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket and\u00a0Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n

\"Make
Image credits: KnowStartup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The idea, inception, increase<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The idea<\/em> for the start-up germinated when Deepak Kalra saw the opportunities the internet offered when he tried to sell his wife’s car online. Soon after, while booking a family holiday to Thailand, he thought why not use the internet to establish a travel platform by cutting out the middleman. This idea founded MakeMyTrip (MMT).<\/p>\n

The inception<\/em> happened in 2000 in USA. Deep Kalra, an alumnus of\u00a0IIM-Ahmedabad first launched Make My Trip<\/em> website in America to expedite the imminent travel needs of the\u00a0overseas Indian\u00a0community. After a successful run in the US, MakeMyTrip started Indian operations in September 2005, by offering online air ticketing. Headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, the company now provides flight tickets, holiday packages, hotel and alternative-stay bookings, rail tickets, intercity bus tickets and third-party travel insurance, and visa processing.<\/p>\n

The increase in the company portfolio was <\/em>imminent. Deepak Kalra, after the success of the Make My Trip model in the US, was certain could emulate the same or greater success in India. Make My Trip started to raise funds for its growth. To date, it has received USD 548 Million. It came in tranches of:<\/p>\n