According to the India Online Travel Agent Study, OTAs are the most used online method for booking airline tickets, hotels, and holidays, with over 80 percent of Indians willing to use OTAs.
Yatra, MakeMyTrip and Travel Guru were found to be the strongest players in the OTA segment.
Figures showed 34 percent of Indians book airline tickets using Online Travel Agents, 17 percent book hotels and holidays using OTAs and 14 percent book train tickets using these sites.
Nielsen Consumer Research Director Vatsala Pant said the popularity of OTAs with Indians were not surprising given the growing penetration of the Internet in India.
“Consumers also find it quite convenient to book their tickets using these sites as it saves them time and effort required to make their reservations compared to other forms of bookings” she said.
Even if people do not book on OTA site, they are surfed by many, with the majority of Indians that had not yet made any bookings through OTAs saying they had checked these sites for information and were positively inclined to make bookings in the future.
More than two thirds (77%) of Internet-connected Indians use OTA sites to search for airline information, 65 percent use the sites to search for train information, 59 percent for hotel and 57 percent for information on holidays.
“This is a sign of increasing popularity and awareness amongst consumers of the online booking mode, and though they don’t make bookings currently it won’t be long before they convert”
The main alternatives to Online Travel Agents included traditional travel agents/tour operators, booking offices of hotels, and railway website for train booking.
