Travel websites turn on local lingo

Travel websites are launching their local language versions to reach non-English speaking population. yatra.com and Makemytrip.com have reopened sponsored links in Hindi on Google.Indiatimestravel.com has launched its ad campaigns on Hindi portal webdunia.com, whereas Travelguru began print media campaigns in Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi and Gujrati last week.

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The online travel industry is valued at around $460 million. And is slated to become a $2 billion industry by the end of 2008. Sharat Dhall, e-commerce head, Indiatimestravel.com stated, “There are roughly 40 million internet users in the country and almost the same number of English speaking people. As the Internet spreads, travel portals are looking at Hindi and other regional languages for advertising their products. As Internet penetration increases in small towns and non-metros, regional language Websites will become an important part of the travel portals’ media mix.”

For Indiatimestravel.com about 20-25 percent of business comes from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Also while business from metros is registering 80 percent year-on-year growth, non-metros are registering 150 percent growth. “To many inroads into the growing market, Indiatimestravel is also evaluating the option of giving sponsored links in Hindi on Google,” Mr. Dhall told The Economic Times. According to Makemytrip.com, while the click through rate (number of people clicking on the link per 100 visits) for English language links is only 1.5 percent, for Hindi it was higher, around 3 percent. Though the conversion rate cannot be tracked as the links were started only around two weeks back.

Sachin Bhatia, co-founder and marketing head, Makemytrip.com said, “Higher click through rate can be, because of the fact that Indians find advertising in Hindi more appealing and interesting. Also around 18 percent of our business (makemytrip.com’s total turnover for the fiscal has been projected at around $121 million) comes from smaller cities such as Indore, Surat and Salem where the English speaking population is not very high.”

Nikhil Rungta, marketing head of yatra.com agreed, “ A customer can instantly connect to an ad campaign in Hindi or a regional language. It helps especially when you are targeting pilgrims.” Ashwin Damera, CEO, Travelguru said, “We also have plans of launching ad campaigns on websites like Indiatimes.com and rediff.com in vernacular language.

Travelguru’s has projected a turnover of $40 million this fiscal, about 40 percent of which will be from non-metros. The website spends $4-5 million each year on ads and marketing. And its not only ad campaigns in Hindi that travel portals are looking at. Most of them are also contemplating content in Hindi. “We will also take a call if we want a Hindi version of our website,” says Bhatia.