siliconindia | | SEPTEMBER 20258India's travel industry is at the cusp of a tech-driven revolution. In 2025, tech innovations like AI-powered planning tools, UPI payments and personalized mobile apps are transforming how Indians travel. Key market projections reflect this surge, the Indian online travel market was about $23.1 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow over 7.7 Percent annually through 2030, and even reach an estimated $124 billion by 2033.In this dynamic environment, several travel-tech giants are emerging to shape the future of travel in India. Let's look at how recent GST reforms are reshaping the travel tech landscape and unlocking new opportunitiesThe Key Drivers of Travel-Techixigo: A mobile-first OTA known for rail, bus and flight search, ixigo has become India's fastest-growing travel app. It reported over 1.2 billion $155 M in FY24 GBV and led all players in rail ticketing share. Ixigo's AI-driven features such as predictive fare alerts and real-time bus info have resonated especially with tier-2/3 users. With its fintech integrations (like wallet and fast-lane payments), ixigo has improved margins even while Indian OTAs often operate on razor-thin profit per booking.Key Leaders· Rajnish Kumar, Director & Group Co-CEO· Aloke Bajpai, Chairman, Managing Director & Group CEOYatra: Focused on corporate travel and business segments, Yatra combines B2B and B2C services. It has a strong multinational inventory and multilingual support, serving frequent flyers and travel managers. (Yatra was in news for a pending acquisition by Ebix, but continues to operate its platform.)Many other `travel-tech' enterprises are emerging. Alternate-stay networks like Zostel are growing (focused on hostels and homestays), and even foreign players (Airbnb, Tripadvisor) have large Indian user bases. Global tech giants view India as a key market, in late 2025 Google launched an AI-powered `Flight Deals' tool in India (alongside the US and Canada) to help flexible travelers find bargains. This move underscores India's rapid adoption of AI tools for travel planning.Key Leaders· Dhruv Shringi, Co-Founder & CEO· Manish Amin, Co-Founder & CTO· Sabina Chopra, Co-Founder & COO-CorporateOTA Success StoriesMakeMyTrip (MMT): Founded in 2000, MMT is India's oldest and largest OTA. It has evolved into a `travel super app' offering flights, hotels, trains, buses and packages. Today MMT handles over $10+ billion in annual gross bookings and is Nasdaq-listed.EDITORIAL EXCLUSIVETHE AGGRESSIVE IMPACT OF GST ON OTA GIANTS & STARTUPS IN THE SKY-MOBILITY AGEUNVEILING THE DUAL REALITIES OF DARK WEBSITES IN THE DIGITAL AGE· Quantum computers can break current encryption (RSA, ECC, DH), risking all digital data.· Post-Quantum Cryptography introduces quantum-resistant algorithms like Kyber and Dilithium.· PQC is complex and resource-heavy, but early implementation is critical for future security.By M R Yuvatha, Senior Correspondent, siliconindia
< Page 7 | Page 9 >