In 2000, when Deep Kalra left his secure job at AMF Bowling to launch MakeMyTrip, most people thought online travel booking in India was crazy. The internet was slow, credit card penetration was under 1%, and Indians trusted their neighborhood travel agents who’d been booking train tickets and pilgrimages for decades.
But Kalra saw what others missed: millions of Non-Resident Indians living abroad wanted an easy way to book travel to India, and the domestic market would eventually follow once trust was built. Twenty-five years later, MakeMyTrip stands as India’s undisputed online travel leader with 50%+ market share in online bookings, 28% of India’s total air ticketing volume, Rs 65,000+ crore annual gross booking value, and 44 million+ active users.
The company survived brutal competition from Yatra, Cleartrip, and EaseMyTrip, fought off global giants like Booking.com and Expedia trying to conquer India, navigated the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, and emerged stronger each time. This is the story of how one company built trust when online transactions were suspect, acquired smartly when competitors were burning cash, and dominated through execution when everyone had similar technology.
The Unlikely Beginning
Deep Kalra’s founding insight came from personal frustration rather than market research. In the late 1990s, as a frequent traveler between India and the US, he experienced the pain of booking travel through offline agents who charged high commissions, provided limited options, and offered zero transparency.
The process involved multiple phone calls, faxed itineraries, and hoping the agent actually booked what you asked for. When he discovered Expedia and other US travel sites making booking seamless, he realized India needed something similar but tailored to local needs and behaviors.
Early 2000s Indian market challenges:
- Internet penetration under 1% with slow dial-up
- Credit card usage negligible, cash dominated
- Zero trust in online transactions
- Traditional agents deeply entrenched
- No reference point for e-commerce
The early 2000s Indian market presented massive challenges that would have discouraged most entrepreneurs. Internet penetration was under 1%, with slow dial-up connections that took minutes to load a single page. Credit card penetration was negligible, most Indians transacted only in cash and checks.
Online shopping didn’t exist as a category, people had never bought anything on the internet and were terrified of “giving credit card numbers to websites.” The concept of travel booking itself was different, Indians booked pilgrimages to Varanasi and Tirupati, not beach vacations in Goa like Americans booked trips to Hawaii.
Kalra’s strategic starting point:
- Targeted NRIs in US, UK, Middle East first
- NRIs already comfortable with internet
- Had credit cards and needed India travel booking
- Calling Indian agents from abroad was expensive
- Started with flights only, real-time booking
Kalra started by targeting NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) living in the US, UK, and Middle East who needed to book travel to India for family visits. This was genius because NRIs already used the internet regularly, had credit cards, and desperately needed a solution.
He launched with flights only, partnering with airlines to offer real-time booking that traditional agents couldn’t match. The value proposition was simple: transparent pricing, instant confirmation, and convenience of booking from your computer instead of making international phone calls.
Building Trust in a Skeptical Market
The biggest barrier wasn’t technology, it was trust. Indians in 2000 fundamentally didn’t believe that “giving your credit card number to a website” was safe. MakeMyTrip invested heavily in building trust through multiple mechanisms that competitors ignored.
They offered a 24/7 call center where customers could speak to real humans before, during, and after booking, reassuring nervous first-time users. They partnered with recognized payment gateways and displayed security certificates prominently, though most users didn’t understand what those certificates meant.
Trust-building mechanisms:
- 24/7 call center with real human support
- Displayed security certificates prominently
- Actually delivered tickets that worked
- Email confirmations users could print
- Word-of-mouth from satisfied early customers
Most importantly, they delivered on promises. When someone booked a flight and received a confirmation email, the ticket actually existed when they arrived at the airport. This sounds basic, but in an era when online scams were common and people expected to be cheated, simply delivering what you promised built enormous goodwill.
Early customers became evangelists, telling friends and family that “MakeMyTrip actually works,” creating word-of-mouth that money couldn’t buy. The call center became MakeMyTrip’s secret weapon. While competitors focused purely on technology, MakeMyTrip recognized that Indian customers wanted the safety net of human support.
The Expansion Strategy
MakeMyTrip didn’t stay focused on flights to India forever. By 2005, as domestic Indian internet usage grew and more middle-class families got computers, Kalra expanded into domestic travel and hotels. The strategy was methodical: master one category, build trust, then expand into adjacent categories using that trust.
Hotels were natural extension since people booking flights needed accommodation. Holiday packages followed, bundling flights and hotels for popular destinations like Goa, Kerala, and hill stations during school holidays.
Strategic expansion timeline:
- 2000: Flights to India for NRIs
- 2005: Domestic flights added
- 2006: Hotel bookings launched
- 2008: Holiday packages introduced
- 2010: NASDAQ IPO first Indian travel company
- 2011: Mobile app ahead of competitors
The expansion required different capabilities. Hotels meant partnering with thousands of properties from budget lodges to luxury resorts. Holiday packages required building relationships with local tour operators, transport providers, and guides.
But MakeMyTrip’s advantage was the customer relationship they’d already established. Someone who successfully booked flights through the platform was much more likely to try hotels and packages, reducing customer acquisition costs dramatically.
The 2010 NASDAQ IPO was a watershed moment, making MakeMyTrip the first Indian online travel company to go public. The timing was strategic, coming after years of profitable operations and clear market leadership.
The Mobile Revolution
MakeMyTrip’s decisive advantage came from recognizing India’s mobile-first future before competitors. By 2011, when smartphones were still expensive and most Indians used feature phones, Kalra invested heavily in mobile app development.
The bet was that India would skip desktop internet and go straight to mobile, just as it had skipped landlines for mobile phones. This proved prescient as smartphone penetration exploded from 2012 onwards with cheaper Android devices flooding the market.
Mobile-first advantages:
- Booking anytime, anywhere flexibility
- Push notifications for deals and reminders
- App-exclusive discounts incentivizing downloads
- Location-based personalization
- Faster booking process than desktop
The mobile app transformed user experience fundamentally. Booking travel on desktop required being at a computer with good internet, limiting when and where people could browse. The mobile app let people research and book during commutes, lunch breaks, or late at night from bed.
Push notifications reminded users about upcoming trips, fare drops, and limited-time deals, driving engagement that wasn’t possible with desktop-only experiences. App-exclusive discounts incentivized downloads, and once someone had the app installed, they were much more likely to use MakeMyTrip versus competitors.
Surviving Brutal Competition
The mid-2010s saw brutal competition as multiple well-funded players fought for market share. Yatra, founded in 2006 by US-based entrepreneurs, raised significant venture capital and marketed aggressively with celebrity endorsements and TV commercials.
Cleartrip, also launched in 2006, positioned itself as the clean, simple alternative with minimalist design that appealed to tech-savvy users. EaseMyTrip entered in 2008 with a unique zero-commission model charging customers convenience fees instead of taking airline commissions, allowing lower prices.
Major competitors attacking MakeMyTrip:
- Yatra: aggressive marketing with celebrity endorsements
- Cleartrip: minimalist design for tech-savvy users
- EaseMyTrip: zero-commission model with lower prices
- Booking.com: global inventory and deep pockets
- Expedia: decades of operational expertise
Global giants Booking.com and Expedia eyed India’s massive market and began investing heavily. They had deeper pockets, global hotel inventory, and decades of operational expertise. Many observers expected these giants to crush local players just as Uber had dominated ride-sharing.
But MakeMyTrip survived and thrived by understanding Indian travelers better than foreigners ever could. Rather than engaging in price wars that would have destroyed profitability, they focused on differentiation through superior customer service and wider inventory.
Competitive differentiation strategy:
- 24/7 customer service in multiple languages
- Widest hotel inventory including budget properties
- Personalization using booking data
- Content marketing for destination searches
- Bank partnerships creating loyalty programs
- Understanding Indian travel patterns
They invested in content marketing, creating destination guides and travel blogs that ranked highly in Google searches. This captured customers earlier in the decision journey when they were researching “best places to visit in Rajasthan” rather than ready to book specific hotels.
They partnered with banks for co-branded credit cards offering travel rewards. Someone with 50,000 MakeMyTrip points redeemable for flights would think twice before switching to Cleartrip even if prices were slightly lower. These loyalty mechanics created stickiness that pure marketplaces couldn’t achieve.
The Goibibo Merger
The 2016 merger with Goibibo was transformative and controversial. Goibibo, launched by Ibibo Group in 2009, had grown aggressively by burning cash on customer acquisition, offering deep discounts funded by parent company Naspers.
The merger created the MakeMyTrip-Goibibo combined entity controlling over 60% of India’s online travel market. The Competition Commission of India investigated but ultimately approved the merger with conditions.
Strategic merger benefits:
- Combined 60%+ market share overnight
- Reduced customer acquisition costs dramatically
- Goibibo brought younger price-sensitive users
- Acquired redBus for bus ticketing category
- Concentrated firepower against global competitors
The strategic logic was powerful. Rather than competing for the same customers with expensive marketing, the combined entity could reduce customer acquisition costs dramatically. Goibibo brought younger, more price-sensitive customers who complemented MakeMyTrip’s relatively affluent base.
The merger also brought redBus, India’s leading bus ticketing platform that Goibibo had acquired in 2013. This gave MakeMyTrip presence in a category they’d never entered organically. Critics argued the merger reduced competition, but in reality, it rationalized a market where multiple players were burning venture capital unsustainably.
The Pandemic Test
COVID-19 decimated travel globally, and India’s strict lockdowns from March 2020 crushed booking volumes overnight. MakeMyTrip’s revenue collapsed as flights stopped, hotels closed, and people cancelled trips fearing infection.
The company faced an existential crisis that killed many travel startups without the resources to survive months of zero revenue. But MakeMyTrip survived through aggressive cost-cutting, renegotiating supplier contracts, and pivoting quickly.
Pandemic survival tactics:
- Aggressive cost-cutting preserving cash runway
- Renegotiated supplier contracts
- Shifted focus to domestic leisure travel
- Highlighted safety protocols at properties
- Promoted road trips and nearby destinations
- Featured homestays and villas over hotels
The recovery strategy focused on hygiene and safety concerns that dominated traveler psychology. MakeMyTrip ran campaigns showing hotels following sanitization protocols, contactless check-ins, and social distancing measures.
They highlighted homestays and villas as safer alternatives to hotels where guests could maintain isolation. They promoted road trips and nearby destinations instead of flights, capturing pent-up demand from people desperate to travel after months of lockdown.
Post-pandemic advantages gained:
- Smaller competitors shut down or sold cheaply
- First-time online bookers forced to use apps
- Domestic leisure travel boomed massively
- Higher margins from restructured operations
- Stronger market position than before crisis
The pandemic accelerated structural changes that favored MakeMyTrip. Smaller competitors without capital reserves shut down or were acquired cheaply. Indians who’d never booked travel online were forced to use apps during lockdowns when offline agents were inaccessible.
Domestic leisure travel boomed as international borders stayed closed for over a year. This played to MakeMyTrip’s strength in Indian destinations that global platforms didn’t understand as deeply.
The Super App Evolution
Post-pandemic, MakeMyTrip evolved from a travel booking platform into a super app offering everything travelers need. Flights, hotels, holiday packages, trains, buses, cabs, travel insurance, visa assistance, and foreign exchange all became bookable within one app.
The vision was that someone planning a trip shouldn’t need to juggle multiple apps. Everything should be seamless within MakeMyTrip’s ecosystem creating powerful network effects.
Super app services integrated:
- Flights, hotels, holiday packages
- Trains, buses, cab bookings
- Travel insurance coverage
- Visa assistance services
- Foreign exchange facilitation
Someone booking a flight received hotel recommendations for their destination. Someone booking a hotel got cab suggestions for airport transfers. The more services used, the more data MakeMyTrip collected, enabling better personalization.
This virtuous cycle increased customer lifetime value dramatically. Users booked multiple categories instead of just flights. The approach differentiated MakeMyTrip from specialized competitors like Ixigo (trains) or Treebo (budget hotels) who excelled in niches but offered narrow solutions.
The Bottom Line
MakeMyTrip’s 25-year journey from crazy idea to market dominance teaches critical lessons about building in emerging markets. The company succeeded not through superior technology, everyone eventually had similar booking systems, but through understanding Indian consumer psychology.
They recognized that Indians needed reassurance through 24/7 call centers even while booking online. They understood that mobile would dominate before competitors grasped the shift. They knew that acquiring complementary businesses made more sense than competing head-to-head forever.
What made MakeMyTrip unstoppable:
- Built trust systematically with hybrid digital-human approach
- Mobile-first strategy before competitors recognized shift
- Smart acquisitions avoiding destructive competition
- Super app strategy creating switching costs
- Deep understanding of Indian travel patterns
- Survived multiple crises emerging stronger
The financial results validate the strategy: Rs 65,000+ crore annual gross booking value, 50%+ online market share, 28% of India’s total air ticketing, and 44 million+ active users. More importantly, MakeMyTrip became the default choice for Indian travelers.
When Indians think travel booking, they think MakeMyTrip. The competitive moat comes from accumulated advantages that competitors can’t easily replicate. The hotel inventory built over 20 years of relationship-building. The customer data from millions of bookings. The brand trust earned through consistent delivery.
For entrepreneurs studying MakeMyTrip’s playbook, the lessons are clear: emerging markets require patience in building trust, mobile-first isn’t optional in developing countries, smart acquisitions beat endless competition, and category leadership requires excellence across the entire customer journey not just technology.
