comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of the online travel industry in India based on data from its comScore Media Metrix service. The study found that the number of visitors to travel sites increased 32% in the past year to 18.5 million visitors as more Indians turned to the web for their travel needs. These findings and others will be presented via a live webinar, The State of the Internet India, on June 7.
“The online travel category continues to show strong growth in India,” said Kedar Gavane, comScore Director for India. “The convenience of booking trips and locating travel information online continues to appeal to many users, especially among India’s young Internet population. As the online travel industry matures it will be important for brands to provide increasing functionality, ease of use and security to its users to effectively compete in this growing market.”
Travel site visitation grows 32% in the past year
In April 2011, 18.5 million online users age 15 or older visited a travel site from a home or work location, an increase of 32% from the previous year. Each of the top 10 properties in the category experienced strong growth in the past year. Indian railways led as the most-visited travel destination with 8.4million visitors, an increase of 8% from the previous year. Online Travel Agent sites (OTAs) secured the remainder of the four top spots in the category. MakeMyTrip reached nearly 3.9million visitors (up 63%) followed by Yatra Online with 3.5 million visitors (up 82%) and ClearTrip.com with more than 2.1 million visitors (up 80%). US based Expedia Inc. secured the number 5 position with 1.8million visitors (up 12%).
Audience overlap among the top three OTAs
Of the 7.1 million people visiting the top three OTAs, MakeMyTrip, Yatra Online and ClearTrip.com, in April, more than 2 million users (29%) visited two or more of the three sites in April 2011. The remaining 71% of visitors checked in at only one of the three sites during the month demonstrating relatively strong brand loyalty among the top players.
comScore will present further insights on this topic as well as other key trends in India’s online market during a live, complimentary webinar, The State of the Internet India, on Tuesday, June 7 from 2:00pm-3:00pm IST. For more information and to register, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/372221297
