Pickyourtrail's domestic dream takes off via Kashmir after suspending Turkey, Azerbaijan tours

Along with Kashmir, the platform will also expand in other domestic destinations.

Among the first travel platforms to suspend bookings to Turkey and Azerbaijan over their stance during the India–Pakistan tensions, Pickyourtrail—which has so far focused on the outbound travel segment—is now turning its attention to domestic destinations.

The platform’s co-founder Hari Ganapathy was overwhelmed by the response from customers to their stand against Turkey and Azerbaijan which led him to go big on Indian travel hotspots.

“One of the key reasons we are ramping up domestic operations now is because when we took a stand on Azerbaijan and Turkey we were overwhelmed with the support we got from our customers. The patriotism in India is something to see. One of the ways for us to repay this customer love is to start doing more domestic work. When there's so much inherent positivity towards India as a nation, we thought this could be a good starting point,” he said.

Starting with Kashmir, Ganapathy said that while sentiments are affected due to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, he sees a strong potential in the region.

“Now more than ever, Kashmir needs support. Tourism is one of the best ways for a region to grow. From a GDP (gross domestic product), from a job creation perspective, tourism is one of those very few industries which creates jobs and spending locally. Also, Indians are the top spenders the world over. We beat the US, we beat China, we beat the UK, from an in-destination spend perspective, which means that the GDP growth we bring into a destination when we travel is the best in the world,” he said.

If that kind of money flows in for domestic destinations, then places like Kashmir can see a significant boost, he added.

While Pickyourtrail has been offering Kashmir tours to its customers, the co-founder said they will extensively cover the region now.

“We've been doing Kashmir for our peak customers for almost 1-2 years now. So, we've been doing it at a certain scale and volume. Now, we're going full-blown and growing the region. We already have a couple of itineraries set up,” Ganapathy said.

 Kashmir – a big market 

“Around 30 lakh people travel to Kashmir in a year. To give some context, around 15 lakh Indians travel to Thailand in a year. So, Kashmir is twice the size of Thailand. Other destinations including Dubai, Singapore, Maldives, Europe, and Seychelles see 11 lakh, 4 lakh, 2 lakh, 8 lakh, and 50,000 Indians travelling in a year, respectively.”

Building on the sheer size of tourist footfall for domestic destinations, Ganapathy said that even a one-two percent market share of 30 lakh is a very sizable number of people.

“It's a very large market (Kashmir). So, the first season goal is to understand the challenges and ensure customer experience is streamlined. Then over the next 24 to 36 months horizon, the goal is to get to a meaningful market share in this place.”

However, there remains insecurity among travellers when it comes to Kashmir after the attack.

“Whatever limited conversations we've had with customers, there is a bit of intent. A lot of schools are going back to holiday. Delhi, Mumbai are getting rainy. So, I think while May is a peak for Kashmir, June also is not a bad month.”

The travel platform has tied up with local partners to gain access to hotel/accommodation inventory in the Valley.

“Airlines have been particular about deploying planes where there's demand. With more demand, they will be able to more than kind of double down on capacity on these routes.

But positive sentiment towards Kashmir is what will drive airline inventory, he added.

In the latest statement, K.B. Kachru, President, Hotel Association of India and Chairman, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, said that their member hotels across Jammu & Kashmir are committed to the safety of their guests and will work with all stakeholders – government and private – in restoring trust in the destination. “The region is the crown of tourism and of India, and we will continue to support the endeavours.”

Focus on expansion

Along with Kashmir, the platform will also expand to other domestic destinations.

“On the domestic markets front, largely OND (October-November-December), JFM (January-February-March) is the peak of domestic tourism in India. But for places like Northeast May, June is also a very good period. Rajasthan is very good during the OND and JFM quarters. We are thinking about these destinations, but we'll take one market by one market and try to scale it. The idea is to scale Kashmir, then go after another market and stabilise it,” Ganapathy said.

He aims to grow faster than the industry and expects domestic destinations to contribute significantly.

“The industry is estimated to be growing about 8-10 percent year on year. Our goal is to grow faster than the industry. We are in an interesting spot from an overall outbound perspective, and now we want to replicate this for the domestic segment. This can become a very strong pillar of growth for us in the next three to five years because we are starting with a low base.”

India is a very large market and it can surely accommodate at least two or three MakeMyTrips, he said.

On the boycott of Turkey and Azerbaijan by Indian travellers, Ganapathy said that there has been a significant dip in interest. “I can see that in our searches, in our volumes, in our inquiries by people.”