Table of Contents
- How was MakeMyTrip founded? 📍
- MakeMyTrip’s journey 💫
- MakeMyTrip’s MOAT 💪🏻
- Market Overview
- How does India Travel? 🤔
- Travel & Tourism Industry 🧳
- Online Travel Agency Market 📱
- Travel & Tourism trends in India 🇮🇳
- Competitive Landscape 🤼
- Market Share of MakeMyTrip 📈
- How does MakeMyTrip make money? 💸
- MakeMyTrip’s Cost Levers 💳
- Key Metrics to Track 📏
- Market Opportunity 🚀
- Challenges ‼️
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MakeMyTrip is India’s leading OTA platform, holding a whooping 30% market share in the air travel market and with a presence in 150 countries.
So, how does MakeMyTrip step in as the perfect matchmaker between your travel fantasies and financial reality?
With having served over 75 million customers and making $783 million in revenue, MakeMyTrip is winning Indian traveller’s hearts. Whether you’re craving a spontaneous getaway or just trying to turn your Zoom background into a real-life destination, this platform has got your back.
Let’s unpack the genius behind MakeMyTrip’s business model – no jet lags included! 🛩️
If you are interested to uncover business models of D2C brands you can check out Starbucks Business Model, Swiggy Business Model, & other blogs here.
How was MakeMyTrip founded? 📍
In the late 1990s, Deep Kalra, an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, was thriving at ABN AMRO. But something was missing. After three years, he craved more than just a steady job—he wanted to chase a bigger vision.
Kalra first attempted to bring 10-pin bowling to India with AMF Bowling, but the venture didn’t succeed 🙃
He returned to the corporate world — this time at GE Money — where he was introduced to the vast potential of the internet and knew this new medium could transform industries.
He came to a conclusion that he wanted to be on the B2C side and was juggling between online stock broking or travel.
Bulls eye!
The travel industry, as he saw it, was fragmented and inefficient—a system ripe for disruption.
👉🏻 In 2000, Kalra teamed up with three friends—Keyur Joshi, Rajesh Magow, and Sachin Bhatia—to launch MakeMyTrip with $2 million in backing from eVentures, focusing on serving NRIs in the U.S.
But the timing was unfortunate
The dot-com bubble burst soon after, pushing the startup to the brink of collapse. Instead of giving up, they adapted, streamlined their operations, and stayed resilient.
MakeMyTrip’s journey 💫
By 2005, the internet had gained traction in India—spurred by platforms like IRCTC.
Kalra saw an opportunity to pivot MakeMyTrip’s focus to the Indian market, starting with online flight bookings.
The company soon expanded to include hotels and holiday packages, quickly becoming India’s leading travel marketplace.
But what were the key milestones you ask?
👉🏻 2010 IPO: MakeMyTrip went public on NASDAQ, with shares surging 90% on the first day, leading to a nearly $1 billion valuation.
👉🏻 2016 Merger with Ibibo: The company merged with Ibibo Group, further solidifying its dominance in the Indian travel market and expanding its global reach.
MakeMyTrip’s MOAT 💪🏻
1. First Mover Advantage 🥇
So, imagine the early 2000s, when booking travel was this giant hassle where you had only two options:
- Call up travel agents & sift through hundreds of options
- Manually visit airlines and hotels to make reservations.
This was pretty much a nightmare for Indian travellers who were craving convenience.
That's where MakeMyTrip came in and changed the game. In 2005, they saw the opportunity at just the right time with two things favouring them:
👉🏻 Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs) had launched in India, but guess what? Travel agents didn’t book their tickets. So, MakeMyTrip filled that gap. They became the go-to place for booking these cheap flights.
A perfect match—LCCs needed customers, and MakeMyTrip needed to grow. 🫶🏻
👉🏻 Indian Railways began online ticketing. Suddenly, everyone was getting comfortable with booking online. People realised it wasn’t just convenient, but safe too. MakeMyTrip jumped on this wave and started offering not just flights but holiday packages, hotels, and even partnered with Indian Railways for ticket bookings.
The demand was so high that 1 out of every 12 domestic flights was booked through MakeMyTrip. Within a year, the company had acquired 2,00,000 happy customers.
By 2008, while the world was struggling with the recession, MakeMyTrip was thriving making ₹1,000 crores in revenue & even making profits. 🤯
And by 2010, they became one of the few Indian dotcom companies to list on NASDAQ. This was huge—not just for them but for Indian businesses in general.
2. Super App 📱
Imagine planning a holiday: you’ve just booked a flight, and right there in the same app, you can snag a great hotel deal or arrange a taxi to the airport.
No jumping between apps, no extra downloads—just one seamless experience.
Now, compare that to ixigo, where you have separate apps for flights and trains. It’s clunky and takes more effort.
With MakeMyTrip, everything is in one spot, making your travel planning smoother and more convenient.
That’s the power of a super app—MakeMyTrip’s all-in-one approach keeps things easy and efficient, giving it an edge over competitors where you have to juggle multiple apps for different services.
3. Brand Dominance 🏆
When people in India think travel, they think MakeMyTrip.
With a brand awareness score of 63, they’re far ahead of competitors like EaseMyTrip and Cleartrip.
This dominance isn’t limited to flights and hotels. Their sister brand, RedBus, leads the bus transport sector with a score of 56.
MakeMyTrip’s strength shows in its numbers, with the traffic to their website coming from two major channels:
→ Direct search: 60% (24M)
→ Organic: 31%
They’ve mastered travel's seasonal spikes too—launching well-timed campaigns during peak summer and festive periods. Their summer campaign, for example, focused on fixing last-minute travel changes, hitting exactly when people need help most.
Their strategy?
Omnichannel marketing. TV is their biggest tool, with targeted ads for different audiences and let’s face it MMT’s ad game is stellar 💯
With 94% of Indian travellers being inspired by films or TV shows, MMT is playing into that insight brilliantly.
4. Instant refunds ☄️
Travel can be unpredictable, right? Plans change.
That’s why MakeMyTrip introduced their "Cancel For Any Reason" (CFAR) feature.
- You can book a ticket, change your mind, and still get an instant refund. No hassle, no questions asked.
- They partnered with Cover Genius for this, and the feedback has been fantastic.
- Their post-claims Net Promoter Score (NPS) is +65. That means customers love the experience and are recommending it to others.
But they didn’t stop there. A lot of people run into visa issues, which can completely ruin travel plans. To tackle this, MakeMyTrip introduced a “Visa Guarantee” insurance. If your tourist visa gets rejected, you get 100% of your flight fare refunded.
With India becoming a big player in outbound tourism, this is a game-changer. Travellers feel more secure booking with MakeMyTrip because they know they’re protected.
By the way, the depth you see here is just a feeler of the depth we teach at GrowthX 💫
GrowthX is an invite-only club of over 3000 members who are product, marketing, and business leaders, and founders from top internet-first companies like Google, Canva, CRED, Stripe, Netflix, and more 💎
We teach our members how to scale revenues via frameworks that can be applied starting next Monday morning. The GrowthX Membership is built on 3 core pillars:
1. Learning experience: Where you learn the science of revenue-led growth with frameworks actionable the next Monday morning.
2. Curated community: Where you access a safe space for you to soundboard anything that is stressing you at work.
3. Career outcomes: Over 35% of members are founders & are able to hire growth teams to scale revenue for their companies while operators are able to get into breakout leadership roles.
Explore GrowthX Membership 🏆
Market Overview
How does India Travel? 🤔
Before we understand how the travel & tourism industry in India looks like, let’s take a look at how India travels in the first place.
Out of 14 crore daily commuters, 75% prefer traveling by road, while 24% choose railways.
That’s 99% of the country's passenger demand.
Whether it’s the chaotic intra-city hustle (which makes up 60% of land transport) or the long inter-city bus rides (which make up 40%), land transport dominates.
Buses alone carry around 2.5 crore passengers daily, on par with the railways.
And now for the skies ☁️
Air travel, despite hitting a record high of nearly 4.6 lakh passengers per day in November 2023, or the fact that in just the first three months of 2024, 97 million people passed through Indian airports, still only scratches the surface—less than 1% of India’s daily travel needs.
Why? Well when it comes to spending on travel, India’s flight market is untapped — with only 4% of India flying & the prices are 5-10X compared to a regular train ticket.
As opposed to road travel, which eats up the biggest slice of the pie (79%) because it’s cheap, convenient, and hey, who doesn’t love a good road trip? Railways come in second, grabbing 17% of travel spending, thanks to their extensive, affordable network.
Travel & Tourism Industry 🧳
Transportation & hotel make up 17% of an average Indian’s private expenses — our second largest expense, so it’s important to understand how the travel & tourism industry in India is looking like.
In 2023, the travel and tourism sector in India contributed around 9.1% to the total GDP of the country
It is projected that Travel & Tourism will contribute almost ₹21.15 TN to the Indian economy in 2024, an increase of 21% from 2019.
By 2028, India's tourism and hospitality industry is set to rake in over ~₹4.90 lakh crores ($59B) with foreign tourist arrivals hitting 3.1 crores
Right now, the travel market is growing fast—it’s expected to jump from ₹6.23 lakh crores in 2020 to ₹10.38 lakh crores by 2027. Not bad, right?
Despite all the excitement, domestic travel is really leading the way.
After the pandemic, Indian travellers bounced back strong, pushing domestic visitor spending up by 20.4% in 2022. That’s a big deal, considering international spending is still catching up to pre-pandemic levels, though it’s improving at 81.9%.
On a global scale, India’s travel industry is expected to grow its contribution to the economy by an impressive 7.1% annually over the next decade. By 2029, this industry is projected to create 53 million jobs—roughly one in 11 jobs in the country.
Long story short: India’s travel and tourism sector is on the fast track to becoming a global powerhouse.
The country’s aiming for 100 million inbound tourists by 2047, and with this kind of growth, they just might make it happen.
Online Travel Agency Market 📱
The India Online Travel Market size is estimated at ₹1.43 lakh crores ($17.24B) in 2024 and is expected to reach ₹2.36 lakh crores ($28.40B) by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 10.5%.
MMT had a market share of 53.8% in 2023.
1. Air 🛩️
2014: India’s domestic airlines had a capacity of 7.9 million seats
2024: That number has almost doubled to 15.5 million.
That’s right—India is now the third-largest domestic airline market globally, overtaking countries like Brazil and Indonesia! In fact, the country is growing its airline capacity faster than anywhere else in the top five.
But what’s driving this? 🧐
A lot of it comes down to people hopping online to book their flights. In 2023, 70% of airline bookings were made online, and that number is expected to reach 80% by 2028.
Domestic air travel is also set to explode—doubling to 300 million passengers in just a few years.
And if you think international traffic will slow down, think again.
By 2030, international passengers are predicted to reach 160 million, compared to 64 million last year.
2. Rail 🚉
If you’ve ever tried booking a train ticket, you’ll appreciate how far things have come.
By 2023, over 81% of rail tickets were booked online—no more waiting in long lines at the station! And by 2028, that number is set to hit 86%.
This massive shift toward online bookings has been fuelled by two things:
→ better digital infrastructure
→ smarter & user-friendly tools.
India has the fourth-largest railway system in the world, and they’re getting faster and more modern.
With trains moving at better speeds and the network increasingly electrified (Indian Railways is expected to run entirely on electricity by 2024!), it’s easier than ever to travel across the country.
The Indian Railways is even pulling in record-breaking revenue, expected to hit over ₹2.66 lakh crores ($32 billion) by the end of 2024.
Indian Railways runs 13,523 passenger trains and 9,146 freight trains daily.
Plus, with continued investment, India could account for 40% of the world’s total rail activity by 2050. That's not just big—it's enormous.
3. Bus 🚌
Now that we’re past the railway talk, let's hit the road—literally—with India’s bus industry.
Buses are a huge part of how people travel, and the online market for intercity buses is starting to pick up speed.
In 2023, around 19% of intercity bus bookings were made online, but by 2028, that number should rise to 28%.
The bus industry in India itself is expected to be worth over ₹1 lakh crores in 2026, with a CAGR of roughly 7% — with both government-run buses and private buses playing key roles.
Here’s how 👇
Market Type | Top States | Expected Market Share |
Private Buses (TAM by 2026) | Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana | 45% |
State Transport Undertakings (STU) | Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh | 70% |
4. Hospitality 🏨
India’s hospitality industry is on the verge of a massive boom.
In 2024, it’s valued at approximately ₹2.08 lakh crores ($25B), but by 2029, that figure will soar to ₹2.57 lakh crores ($31B) — a steady annual growth of 4.73%.
Though India has over 2 million hotel rooms, only 20% are organised—being owned by chains such as Taj Hotels, Oberoi or Radisson.
What’s fuelling this surge? A growing middle class with more disposable income, eager to spend on travel and leisure.
A key indicator of this growth is the average revenue per user (ARPU)
- 2017 - Started at $163
- 2023 - ARPU climbed to $166
- 2028 - Set to hit $174
With more people traveling for leisure, business, and events, the demand for hotels is skyrocketing.
The real excitement lies in what’s coming next.
In FY25, India’s hotel industry is expected to see a 7-9% revenue jump. Occupancy rates in premium hotels are projected to hit 70-72%, while average room rates will reach up to $96.
This surge is driven by a rise in domestic travel, weddings, and large-scale events like conferences, all supported by better infrastructure and air connectivity.
By the way, the depth you see here is just a feeler of the depth we teach at GrowthX 💫
GrowthX is an invite-only club of over 3000 members who are product, marketing, and business leaders, and founders from top internet-first companies like Google, Canva, CRED, Stripe, Netflix, and more 💎
We teach our members how to scale revenues via frameworks that can be applied starting next Monday morning. The GrowthX Membership is built on 3 core pillars:
First, learning experience
Learn the science of revenue-led growth with frameworks actionable the next Monday morning.
Second, curated community
Access a safe space for you to soundboard anything that is stressing you at work.
Third, professional outcomes
Over 35% of members are founders & are able to hire growth teams to scale revenue for their companies while operators are able to get into breakout leadership roles.
Explore GrowthX Membership 🏆
Travel & Tourism trends in India 🇮🇳
India’s travel market is valued at $78B in 2023 and is expected to reach $131B by 2030. Here’s a list of some of the travel & tourism trends fuelling this industry 👇
- Blockbuster Impact
Remember the Bollywood hit Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara? After its Spain-based shoot, Indian tourism to Spain shot up by 65%. Clearly, movies are shaping our travel plans—94% of Indian travellers admit they’ve visited a destination inspired by films or TV shows.
And if you think we’re stopping at Bollywood, you’re wrong.
Apparently 42% of Indian travellers were eager to visit Paris after watching Emily in Paris, it’s clear that pop culture is dictating travel plans.
- Big Spenders
Indians are now the world’s largest emerging outbound travel market. With 63% planning to boost their travel budgets in 2024, India’s global influence is growing. By 2030, they’ll be the fourth-largest spender on travel globally.
- Experience > Everything
From eco-tourism to offbeat destinations, travellers are chasing more than just picturesque views.
The demand for authentic experiences has never been higher—especially with the middle class expanding by 6% annually, which will account for 60% of India’s population by 2047.
- Spiritual Surge
Religious tourism is booming. Since 2021, spiritual destination searches have jumped by 97%, with Ayodhya’s new Ram Temple expecting 50 million visitors.
- AI Takes Over
AI isn’t just a buzzword anymore—76% of Indian travelers want AI-generated tips for enhancing their trips, and 45% are already using AI in travel planning. India’s AI market is set to reach ₹1.7K crores by 2027, transforming the way we explore.
- Solo and Spontaneous
Indians are embracing solo travel like never before—34% plan to go solo this year. Whether it’s self-love or the thrill of spontaneity, 58% are also leaning toward last-minute trips, leaving the structure behind.
- Snooze-Cations
Sleep tourism is trending, with 65% of Indian travellers craving sleep retreats. Rest is now a vacation goal, with 66% saying they sleep better during holidays.
Think sleep is overrated? India begs to differ.
- Air Travel Takes Off
With 97 million people passing through Indian airports this year, domestic and international travel is booming. Passenger traffic surged 21% above 2019 levels, and international travel jumped by 4%. Clearly, India’s travellers are ready for takeoff.
- The App Revolution
Travel apps like MakeMyTrip and TripAdvisor have completely transformed planning. Budget-friendly options like “travel now, pay later” are making international travel more accessible for India’s rising middle class.
Competitive Landscape 🤼
MakeMyTrip operates in 150 countries. Since India happens to be MMT’s largest market, we’ll be focusing on some of the key players in India first.
1. ixigo
- Ixigo was founded by two IIT-Kanpur grads, Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, who in 2007 set out on a mission to simplify travel for India.
- Market Leader in Rail and Bus Bookings - 46.15% market share in OTA rail bookings.
- Major focus on the next billion users in smaller towns/cities (with 94.39% of their transactions coming from Tier II/III cities) and also made their app available in 8 languages, improving accessibility.
- Revenue grew by 32% to ₹501 crore (FY23)
- Turned profitable in FY23 with ₹23.4 crore profits.
Did you know Ixigo went from a search platform to India's second-largest OTA, dominating online rail with 45% share?
Checkout this GrowthX Wireframe video to understand how ixigo has been using a unique approach to beat the industry leader - Make my Trip.
2. Cleartrip
- Cleartrip was founded in 2006 by Stuart Crighton, Hrush Bhatt, & Matthew Spacie.
- Cleartrip is now one of the largest online hotels, experiences and air travel aggregator in India — with a market share of roughly 14%
- India's first stored card solution on mobile, Expressway, was introduced by Cleartrip in 2012, and laid a foundation for making secure online payments swift and easy in the Indian e-commerce ecosystem.
- In 2023, Cleartrip made ₹96.7 crore in revenue
- Cleartrip was acquired by Flipkart in 2021, which helped either of the parties. On one hand it enabled Flipkart to delve into the air and hotel booking markets and on the other boosted Cleartrip’s operations
3. Yatra
- Yatra was founded by Dhruv Shringi, Manish Amin and Sabina Chopra in August 2006.
- Yatra.com was the largest B2B OTA in India in 2024, serving over 849 large corporates and 56,000 Small Medium Enterprise clients with the acquisition of Air Travel Bureau—a corporate air travel portal in 2017.
- Revenue from operations stood at ₹107.3 crore in 2024
- Fourth largest OTA in terms of operating revenue but a leader in the B2B segment with a 6% market share.
- Within the hotel segment, Yatra surpassed Cleartrip and EMT with a 3.6% market share.
4. EaseMyTrip
- EaseMyTrip (EMT) entered the scene in 2008, originally helping travel agents book flights for the offline market.
- Consolidated annual revenue of ~₹600 crores in 2024.
- Unique Selling Proposition includes having no convenience fee, no hidden costs, no discounts— built on transparency and low-cost operations.
- Reduced booking time from 5 minutes to 3 minutes.
- EaseMyTrip was the third largest OTA player in terms of Operating Revenue.
- Lean cost structure helped EaseMyTrip grow faster, especially with cost-conscious Indian travellers.
Particulars | MakeMyTrip | ixigo group | Easemytrip | Yatra |
Operating Revenue (FY23) | 47.7 billion | 5 billion | 4.5 billion | 3.8 billion |
81.5 million | 83 million | 4.3 million | 2.8 million | |
8.7 million | 12.3 million | 0.4 million | 0.2 million | |
Cumulative App Downloads | 249.2 million | 288.4 million | 10 million | 19 million |
App Ratings (Weighted average) | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.3 |
5. The International Players
Now let’s talk about the big guys—Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb, and Agoda. They’re seasoned pros in the travel world, but they have their eyes on India too.
- Booking.com which was founded in 1996, made a whopping $21.3 billion in 2023, with over 1 billion nights booked and 36 million airline tickets sold. They dominate globally, but Indian OTAs are trying to hold their own against this powerhouse. They also have a active mobile user base of 120 million!!
- Airbnb founded on August 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, and Joe Gebbia, is known for its homey stays and is huge too, with 8 million listings in over 220 countries. They pulled in $10.2 billion in revenue by March 2024 and have 5 million hosts, including a growing presence in India.
- Agoda is carving its niche, especially in Asia. In 2024, Agoda hit $5 billion in revenue, and India is their second-largest Asian market and sixth-largest global market. They offer a massive network of 4.5 million hotels and holiday homes worldwide.
- Expedia which was founded in 1996, is another heavyweight. With over 200 travel booking sites under their belt, they handle a massive chunk of the world’s travel with 600 million monthly visits. It is also the home for listings of more than 500,000 properties spanning more than 60 countries.
These giants often use mergers and acquisitions to enter new markets, so Indian OTAs are keeping an eye out and sharpening their game in response.
6. Meta-Search and E-commerce
Meta-search engines like Skyscanner and Google Flights have traditionally funnelled customers to OTAs, but they’re starting to cash in on bookings themselves.
Google could potentially reshape India’s travel scene entirely if it chooses to get more aggressive in the OTA space.
E-commerce giants like Paytm, Flipkart, and Amazon are also jumping into travel. These platforms are already integral to people’s lives, so they’re adding travel booking as another convenient service. This added pressure is nudging traditional OTAs to step up their game.
Market Share of MakeMyTrip 📈
Across different Modes of Transport
1. Airlines
- MakeMyTrip is the leading OTA in this segment with a market share of 30%
- ixigo is growing, capturing 5.2% of the airline market, showing increased competitiveness.
3. Bus Travel
- RedBus (under MakeMyTrip) is the world’s largest online bus ticket provider, with 75% market share in India as of 2023.
- AbhiBus (ixigo's bus division) holds 12.5% of the market, positioning it as the second-largest player in bus ticketing.
3. Railways
- IRCTC dominates online rail bookings, growing from 15% market share in FY20 to 24% in FY23.
- ixigo holds a significant 47.7% market share in the OTA rail market, nearly matching IRCTC’s stronghold and establishing itself as a key player.
- MakeMyTrip’s market share in rail travel is substantially low compared to the above players — presenting a major opportunity for them to tap into.
4. Hotels
- MakeMyTrip remains the largest OTA for hotel bookings, with strong brand recognition and trust.
- Yatra.com holds 3.6% of the hotel market, surpassing Cleartrip and EaseMyTrip.
- Other OTAs collectively control 37.9% of the hotel market, indicating a fragmented and competitive landscape.
How does MakeMyTrip make money? 💸
MakeMyTrip’s revenue for FY24 stood at $783 million
Now, let's break down MakeMyTrip’s revenue model into two parts: the core revenue streams and then the different channels they use to pull in the cash. Ready?
- Core Revenue Streams
- Air Ticketing
Every time someone books a flight on MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, or RedBus, they get a commission.
In 2024, air ticketing pulled in $201.2 million, thanks to a 16.8% jump in flight bookings. They make more as more people travel, and they get a cut of the ticket price.
Even though they spent $116.4 million on customer discounts (those sweet deals you love), they still saw a healthy adjusted margin of $317.7 million. They keep around 6.4% of total air booking revenue after all is said and done.
- Hotels & Packages
When you book a hotel or a vacation package, MakeMyTrip gets a share of that booking.
In 2024, this business brought in $435.5 million. As people booked more rooms (up 19.2%), their margin here hit $348.9 million. They typically pocket 17.6% of gross bookings as profit.
- Bus Ticketing
With RedBus leading the charge, MakeMyTrip earns a piece of every bus ticket sold—like Uber for buses. They made $92.7 million in 2024, thanks to a surge in bus travel, with tickets up by 18.8%.
Margins jumped too, with an adjusted profit of $102.1 million, making bus ticketing a solid cash generator.
RedBus alone controls 75% of India’s online bus ticketing market.
- Others
This is where all the miscellaneous money comes in: forex services, travel insurance, car rentals, cabs, etc.
They made $53 million in 2024 from this category, a big 62.3% jump from the previous year. Think of it as a bunch of small services that add up to a nice chunk of change.
- Revenue Channels
- B2C (Business to Consumer)
- Present in 6 Countries
- 3L+ Routes
- 56M Unique Customers
- 40M App Downloads
- 5,000+ network of bus operators worldwide
MakeMyTrip & Goibibo: The big boys here. They cater to individuals like you and me. Whether it’s booking flights, hotels, or bus rides, this direct-to-consumer model is their bread and butter.
In 2024, Goibibo alone brought in $506 million, and MakeMyTrip’s app had 447 million+ downloads with 338 million+ shopper visits.
They lure you in with deals, handle your bookings, and take a slice of everything you buy.
redBus & redRail: As the leader in bus ticketing, redBus dominates with 290 million+ tickets sold since 2018. The app’s used by millions, and each ticket sale feeds into MakeMyTrip’s revenue.
redBus Snapshot 2024
And we also have redRail, the IRCTC authorised partner under redBus, contributing to this share.
- B2B (Business to Business)
MyBiz & Quest2Travel: These platforms target corporate travellers. MyBiz simplifies employee travel for over 56,000 companies, while Quest2Travel is custom-built for larger enterprises with more complex needs.
They earn by handling bulk bookings for businesses, saving companies money, and helping employees travel smoothly. This slice of the business now contributes a growing 12% to MakeMyTrip's overall revenue.
- B2B2C (Business to Business to Consumer)
My Affiliate Program: Here, MakeMyTrip partners with platforms like Amazon Pay, PhonePe, and Google Pay. These giants integrate MakeMyTrip’s travel services into their own apps, expanding the reach without MakeMyTrip needing to handle every customer directly.
Think of it like a travel service on top of a wallet app—you might not know it’s MakeMyTrip, but they’re powering it.
- Ancillary Services
TripMoney & BookMyForex: MakeMyTrip also makes money from extras like travel insurance (TripMoney) and foreign currency exchange (BookMyForex). Over 1.2 million travellers have used their forex services, and insurance sales are growing as people opt for peace of mind when booking trips.
- Outstation Cabs & Airport Cabs
Outstation Cabs: For weekend trips or outstation travel, they offer easy-to-book cab services with verified drivers and competitive pricing.
Airport Cabs: They’ve got your airport rides covered too, with no surge pricing, safe vehicles, and seamless booking—tied in with your flight reservations. Every cab booked through their platform puts more money in their pocket.
So, speaking of how MakeMyTrip makes money—there's this really cool guide we've been working on that you should totally check out.
It’s the FREE Monetization Foundation by GrowthX!
It's all about scaling monetization and improving free-to-paid conversions.
Basically, if you're a founder or a product/growth leader looking to drive revenue, this guide is gold. It covers how to assess if your company's ready to monetize, how to convert free users into paying ones with this value funnel approach, and how to boost ARPU through upselling and cross-selling strategies.
Oh, and there's even a killer Spotify case study in there too!
Click here to access now!
MakeMyTrip’s Cost Levers 💳
1. Service Cost
What Happened?
Service costs jumped by 21.1%, from $177.6 million to $215.1 million in 2024.
Why?
Travel demand was hot, especially in India. More people were booking vacation packages (which means more work on their end), and their car booking business added an extra $4.7 million to the tab.
2. Personnel Expenses
What Happened?
Wages and benefits rose 11.8%, going from $132.0 million to $147.6 million.
Why?
Well, when people work hard, you’ve got to pay them! They had to account for share-based compensation (stock options), and regular wage hikes kicked in, which is like giving everyone a slightly bigger slice of the cake.
3. Marketing and Sales Promotion
What Happened?
Marketing and sales expenses ballooned by 21.4%, jumping from $101.6 million to $123.3 million.
Why?
When travel demand is high, you have to get louder to stand out. More events, more brand-building, and more incentives (customer inducements) to keep people booking. These inducements cost them $250 million in 2024.
4. Other Operating Expenses
What Happened?
Other operating expenses shot up by 53.2%, from $133.7 million to $204.8 million.
Why?
With more bookings came more fees—things like payment gateways (credit card fees), outsourcing fees (paying third parties to help with operations), and website hosting (because keeping those millions of users online isn’t cheap).
5. Depreciation, Amortization, and Impairment
What Happened?
This stayed pretty steady, barely changing with a 0.5% dip from $27.4 million to $27.3 million.
Why?
They’ve got assets that lose value over time, like computers, buildings, or even software. Think of it like your car slowly losing value each year—except in this case, it barely made a dent in the numbers.
Key Metrics to Track 📏
- Gross Bookings: MakeMyTrip’s gross bookings (GBV) jumped by 24.9% YoY and ended up at $7,954 million this year. Why do we care about this? Gross bookings tell us how much travel people are booking on MMT. It’s a great way to gauge the overall demand and how much money is flowing through the platform. Bigger bookings = more revenue opportunities.
- App Downloads: With over 447 million downloads, MMT’s app is everywhere. We track this because each download is a potential new customer. More downloads mean more chances to convert users into regular bookers.
- Monthly Active Users (MAU) & Daily Active Users (DAU): MakeMyTrip has 81.5 million MAUs and 8.7 million DAUs. These numbers show us how many people are consistently using the platform. We track this because it tells us if people are not just downloading the app but actively using it, which directly links to more bookings.
- Customer Inducement Costs: MMT spent $250 million in 2024 on customer inducements like discounts and promos, which are taken out of revenue. Why track this? It helps us understand how much MMT is investing to keep customers engaged and loyal, balancing the cost with the revenue it drives.
- Take Rate (Revenue): MMT generated $783 million in revenue in FY24, a 32% jump YoY. This shows how well MMT converts gross bookings into actual earnings. Here’s how each segment contributed:
- Air Ticketing: MMT’s Air ticket revenue reached $201 million. The take rate (what MMT keeps after costs) stands at 6.4%.
- Hotels and Packages: This segment brought in $436 million with a take rate of 17.6%, slightly higher than last year. This matters because the higher take rate indicates MMT is squeezing more profit from each booking here, especially with the rising hotel room nights booked.
- Bus Ticketing: Revenue from the bus segment ended up at to $93 million, with a 9.9% take rate. Tracking this helps us see how MMT grows in smaller, high-demand segments like bus bookings.
- Others: This category, which includes other travel and services, saw revenue soar by 62%, totaling $53 million. The take rate here is 9%. This category’s growth shows how MMT is diversifying its income streams beyond just ticket sales.
- Adjusted Operating Profit: MMT’s profit hit $124 million in FY24, a huge jump from $70 million in FY23. Why track this? It’s a clear indicator of how efficiently the business is being run—higher profit means MMT is keeping more of what it earns.
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Market Opportunity 🚀
1. Tapping into railway sector
India loves its trains—big time. Indian Railways carries as many passengers in a single day as airlines manage to fly in an entire year.
Yet, when it comes to air travel, India’s domestic per capita seat capacity is extremely low—just 0.13. Compare that to China’s 0.49 or the 3.09 in the U.S.
Why is this happening? 🤔
- Economic Constraints - Many Indians can't afford regular air travel, especially when rail options are cheaper and more accessible.
- Small Aviation Fleet - With only 771 aircraft, India lags far behind China and the U.S.
Tier-two and tier-three cities account for 90% of train and bus users, but also represent 50% of flight and hotel bookings.
MakeMyTrip could expand into these markets, where the volume of potential customers outweighs thinner margins.
Additionally, launching an offline app for areas with poor connectivity, similar to ixigo, could help boost engagement in low-network regions, particularly on trains.
2. The Great Tourism Boom 💥
India’s travel and tourism market is booming, projected to reach $125 billion by FY27.
Government-backed initiatives like Swadesh Darshan 2.0 and PRASHAD are fueling growth, with 52 new tourism projects underway.
Niche sectors like medical and wellness tourism are also thriving, drawing 21% of international visitors.
MMT can tap into these trends by curating special packages for wellness retreats and spiritual tours and draw more international and premium travellers into the fold.
3. B2B Bonanza 🤝
While everyone’s busy chasing leisure travellers, the B2B side of OTAs is quietly growing faster than its B2C sibling.
With corporate travel poised to become a $32 billion industry, there’s a major market waiting to be claimed.
By 2028, the B2B travel category is expected to grow at a jaw-dropping 15-16% CAGR to reach up to ₹93 billion.
MakeMyTrip already has a foothold with its MyBiz platform, serving over 56,000 SMEs. But there’s room for growth with Quest2Travel — a digital platform for large enterprises - having only 351 Active Accounts.
Imagine doubling down on this by offering more customisation, company-specific booking codes, and cost-saving solutions for large enterprises?
Plus the business side of OTAs is less cutthroat than the consumer space (where every rupee counts), and the margins are better too.
With GST making accounting simpler for businesses, MakeMyTrip has a huge opportunity to capitalize on the corporate side and grow its market share even further.
Challenges ‼️
1. Competition Heating Up
MakeMyTrip isn’t the only player in town.
Take EaseMyTrip, for example. They’ve become the darling of Indian travellers because they don’t charge convenience fees, keep things simple, and are faster—shaving their booking time from five minutes to just three!
In a market where price and speed rule (and let’s face it, most of us aren’t shelling out for luxury services on short domestic flights), this strategy is winning big.
Also, EMT made ~₹600 crores in revenue in 2024 and if you’re curious to learn how EaseMyTrip cracked India’s $201 Billion Travel Industry, check out this GrowthX Wireframe video! 👇
2. Budget Allocation
The government is boosting domestic tourism with a significant budget increase—from ₹95 crores to nearly ₹177 crores.
That’s great news for local travel! But here’s the catch: the budget for promoting India abroad was slashed by 67%—down to just ₹33 crores. 😕
But why’s that a problem? Well, if India wants to be a top global tourist spot, it needs to advertise internationally.
And this directly impacts MakeMyTrip. As a major player in the travel industry, MakeMyTrip relies heavily on attracting international tourists to India.
Reduced government support for overseas promotion = MakeMyTrip needing to bear more marketing costs to attract international travellers.
This could put pressure on their margins, especially amid fierce competition in the domestic market.
3. Super App Woes
While it sounds great to have all your travel needs in one place, stuffing too many features into a single app can slow things down.
And when it comes to e-commerce, speed is king 👑
Deloitte found that even a tiny 0.1-second improvement in mobile load times can boost conversions by 8% and customers spend around 9% more money
So, while MakeMyTrip wants to be your go-to for everything travel-related, they’ll need to keep the app fast, smooth, and user-friendly, or they risk losing customers to faster alternatives.
4. Regulatory and Technological Hurdles
MakeMyTrip uses AI to enhance its services, but regulations are tightening up. Here’s how👇
→ The government is introducing new rules, like the draft Digital India Act, which could limit how AI and machine learning are used in consumer applications.
→ There’s a growing focus on stopping deepfakes and other online shenanigans, meaning MMT has to tread carefully while staying innovative.
5. Legal Battles
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) previously hit MakeMyTrip (and OYO) with hefty fines for allegedly abusing their market power.
The accusation?
MakeMyTrip was accused of using its dominant market share in the online hotel booking market for controlling prices by enforcing strict price parity agreements with hotels, meaning smaller players like Treebo and FabHotels couldn’t list their rooms for cheaper on other sites, even their own.
Plus, MMT was also giving heavy discounts to grab more market share and even blocked Treebo & FabHotels from it’s platform to boost OYO
All of this added up to accusations that MakeMyTrip was crushing competition unfairly, which is why the CCI stepped in.
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