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Sensor Tower · Seema Shah · August 2024
Post-COVID Recovery: The Revival of India's Travel & Booking Apps
India’s travel industry has seen a robust recovery post-COVID, with substantial growth in app downloads and user engagement for both OTAs and Indian airlines per Sensor Tower data. With domestic travel as a key market driver, ixigo, known for its popularity in train bookings, has experienced more than 50% YoY growth in downloads for three consecutive years. Catering to this trend, Agoda and Goibibo strategically focused their YouTube campaigns on promoting domestic trips in 2Q24.
Key Takeaways:
According to the WTTC, India's travel and tourism sector has significantly recovered, which aligns with ST data; The Indian OTAs and airlines cohorts saw app downloads increase by 92% and 84% YoY in 2022, respectively, surpassing pre-COVID levels. In 2023, the OTA cohort and airline cohort downloads increased 26% and 7% YoY, respectively, indicating a resurgence in travel demand and consumer confidence
MakeMyTrip remains a dominant player in the Indian OTA industry, commanding 54% of the mobile app MAU market share in 1H24, followed by Goibibo with a 24% market share. However, the competitive landscape has diversified further, with Agoda and ixigo rapidly expanding their user bases, both having doubled in the past two years. MakeMyTrip and Goibibo have collectively experienced a 3 ppts drop in market share over this period
Seasonal trends impact user engagement on Indian OTA apps, with notable peaks during the summer and year-end holiday seasons. In 2Q23, MakeMyTrip saw a 13% QoQ increase in average MAUs, while Goibibo experienced a 10% rise. Both platforms also peaked in user engagement in Dec’23. These trends underscore the importance of strategic marketing during key travel periods to maximize user engagement and retention
Recognizing YouTube's strength as a key platform for information and education in the travel industry, Indian OTAs invested heavily in YouTube advertising to boost brand visibility. Agoda led with a 2.3% SOV in 1H24, a 2 ppts increase from 0.3% in 1H23. Booking.com and Goibibo followed with 1.4% and 1.1% SOV, respectively
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