MakeMyTrip.com added another feature to its train-booking app. The company has launched vernacular rail booking app in five languages (besides English) – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malyalam and Gujarati. MakeMyTrip is the only OTA in India to offer this service. This follows its vernacularization efforts that began last year with India’s flight-booking service in Hindi on mobile. The flight-booking service will also be extended to other vernacular languages such as Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam this year.
Commenting on the launch Anshuman Bapna, Chief Product Officer of MakeMyTrip.com said, “We are committed to using Technology to make the travel-purchase experience more convenient and delightful for travellers. Customized content, in the language of preference, is the next step towards creating customer delight through Technology. Continuing with our mobile-first approach, we have introduced these features on the mobile app to reach out to a large majority of travellers for whom mobile is now the preferred device to search, plan and book travel. Additionally, we have introduced features that provide more value and benefit to customers, such as a return-booking facility which is currently unavailable on any mobile app.”
Elaborating on the potential of the service Anshuman added, “Rail was the fastest-growing travel segment in India in 2014. It is also the second-biggest travel segment in India. With online rail penetration at 43% in 2014, providing value-added services on mobile will further accelerate the growth and adoption of online rail bookings. There is tremendous potential in vernacular content and we are investing in services supported by vernacular content to catalyze the offline to online shift.”
Rail-booking trends from non-metros (on MakeMyTrip):
Rail bookings from non-metros in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat contribute to over one-third of total rail bookings for MakeMyTrip
Mobile bookings from non-metros in Gujarat surpass desktop bookings
Share of online rail bookings from non-metros from Kerala is the highest among other travel bookings (such as Flights, Hotels and Bus bookings) in the state
