TRENDS
Ixigo bets big on tie-up with PhonePe, eyes market share gain in flights, bus tickets
Payments apps are focusing on a super-app strategy by offering high value to customers and it makes sense for them apps to offer travel as a category, Ixigo's Group CEO Aloke Bajpai has said
BUSINESS
Despite incidents of safety and discomfort, Indian travellers will not be deterred: MakeMyTrip Co-Founder & Group CEO Rajesh Magow
Magow, in an interview with Moneycontrol, said that he expects four new regional airlines to start operations in India soon, and that the likes of IndiGo and Air India are likely to launch more flights to Europe.
BUSINESS
We aim to continue outpacing industry growth in FY25: MakeMyTrip's Rajesh Magow
The company's co-founder and group CEO said the online travel platform has been cash-accretive for the last three years and has managed to increase the cash balance to around $600 million.
TECHNOLOGY
BGMI's success led India in top 5 esports markets; more acquisitions on cards: Krafton India CEO
The esports market in India is growing and Krafton is betting big on the market with more game launches, acquisitions of start-ups and growth stage companies as well penetration in smaller markets with its tournaments.
TRENDS
T20 Victory: Bumrah's bowling, Kohli's charisma to make brands fall for Men in Blue again
Cricket enjoys the largest share in India's sports endorsement market pie at 87 percent in 2023, though it slid from the north of 85 percent recorded in the previous year
TRENDS
Unviable to bring up hotels without infrastructure status: Top hospitality association President
Hoteliers are also seeking a flat GST rate of 12 percent across all rooms. Currently, rooms above Rs 7,500 tariff fall under the 18 percent GST slab.
ENTERTAINMENT
Box Office bets on 'Kalki' as Rs 100-cr opener spawns hopes for ailing theatre industry
The buzz for the movie is so strong that its opening day box office is expected to breach Rs 100 crore mark with collections to the tune of Rs 120 crore and with overseas sales added the business is estimated to reach Rs 175 crore on first day.
TECHNOLOGY
Game on: Is Dubai's gaming visa a gain for the emirate and loss for India?
Dubai is a dream destination for many individuals and startups and its newly launched gaming visa creates competition for top talent in India who may consider relocating to the emirate for better opportunities.
TRENDS
Just looking like a wow: The booming economy of memes and the rise of its creators
More brands are acknowledging the power of meme marketing to engage younger audiences. This recognition is driving increased investments in such marketing campaigns and partnerships with meme creators.
BUSINESS
Actor Darshan's arrest deals another blow to struggling Kannada film industry
There have been calls for banning Darshan's movie releases. Last week, former MLA and BJP leader A T Ramaswamy demanded a ban on the actor's movies.
TRENDS
Advertisers wary of delayed campaigns, confidentiality, as new ad regime debuts
While one ad agency is using GPT to make the self declaration process easy, other advertisers are still coming to terms with the new ad regime.
TRENDS
We were doubted and written off but never gave up belief in ourselves: Ixigo's Aloke Bajpai
Bajpai said there are companies like Zomato that are great examples of how they have proven the naysayers wrong. "They have managed to change the perception just by execution. I think these examples out there also built more confidence in the investor community when it comes to tech companies," he said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Shah Rukh Khan makes king-size return; Bollywood-South India fusion speeds up in brand world
The trend of collaboration between South Indian and Bollywood actors in Pan India movies has been gaining momentum both on the big screen and in the brand world.
BUSINESS
Virat Kohli hits it out of the park, is the most valuable celebrity brand
Bollywood takes the remaining four slots among the top five celebrity brands. The overall brand value of the top 25 celebrities in 2023 is estimated at $1.9 billion, up 15.5 percent from the previous year
ENTERTAINMENT
Cinemas count on 'Chandu Champion' after string of Bollywood flops in first half of 2024
Hindi box office in Q1 FY25 is expected to decline by 21 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 580 crore. Regional content has fared well only in the Malayalam genre which has already reported gross box office of Rs 1,000 crore in 2024 so far, which has doubled YoY, led by small and medium budget films doing well consistently.
TRENDS
Schengen visa gets costly but long wait time remains bigger dampener for Indian tourists
Schengen region has raised visa fee by about 12 percent while that can be a bit of deterrent, the real issue is that it is difficult to get visas on time, said experts.
ENTERTAINMENT
New age film cities beginning to emerge as audiences get hungry for content
Media company Bodhi Tree, through a subsidiary, is focusing on building more film cities not only in Maharashtra but also in Chennai and Kolkata, which are production hubs for film and TV content
TRENDS
Diljit Dosanjh strikes the right chord with global travellers for Toronto concert
The concert which will be live at Rogers Centre has driven a massive increase in hotel bookings for Toronto from various cities
BUSINESS
Airfares likely to taper off from July due to capacity addition, slight fall in demand
Ticket prices on major domestic routes are likely to ease as airlines take delivery of nearly 10 aircraft a month and the slack season for travel kicks in, industry experts and participants told Moneycontrol.
ENTERTAINMENT
From Dhoni to Starc, IPL's highest-paid players' salary more than doubles since league's inception
Players' salaries in IPL have skyrocketed as the league’s popularity soared and factors like the addition of new teams and retention policies for star players have led to the growth in pay.
ENTERTAINMENT
It's houseful as theatres beam India-Pakistan T20 World Cup clash live
Pune, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Delhi stood out with the highest admissions for the India-Pakistan match. Multiplex chains plan to screen all India games of the T20 World Cup
TRENDS
T20 Cricket World Cup, Paris Olympics drive travel demand among Indians: Booking.com
New York is among the top 10 most searched destinations by Indians this June, witnessing a 50 percent increase in searches between June 1 to June 15 in line with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
ENTERTAINMENT
Big picture: Screen count stagnates in booming film market with low inventories, high closures
India has around 5,500 single screens and 4,000 multiplex screens. However, it is estimated that the country doesn't have more than 6,500-7,500 serviceable screens.
TRENDS
Airfares to cool off with capacity additions from second half of FY25: Ixigo's Bajpai
The company's share in the train online travel aggregator (OTA) market is at 52 percent as of nine months FY24 whereas its flights and bus market share at 5.3 percent and 12.9 percent respectively.
