It is one of the sectors where online e-commerce first worked in a nascent Internet market, as the emerging country started using credit card payments in a big way over the last decade and other alternative and hybrid payments system (like cash-on-delivery) took off.
Almost 200 online travel companies, both large OTAs and startups, now function in India, according to a recent data compilation on the Indian online travel and startup market by Traxcn, a venture capital deals and company information tracking service.
Traxn reveals a number of interesting statistics and a great overview of the sector in India, and shows the still-early potential of the market — especially as mobile booking becomes lot earlier. Mobile, of course, isthe predominant method of Internet access in India, and is the world’s second largest mobile market after China. As apps become more common (Android is the biggest smartphone platform in India) and payment systems become more seamless, lots of formalization of the until recently unorganized sector will come in, and fast.