Cleartrip plans to add air-ticketing, hotel bookings to portfolio

KOLKATA: Cleartrip Travel Services, a desi travel portal funded by two leading Silicion Valley venture capital firms — Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures (which has also invested in Google) — is firming up plans to offer international air-ticketing, foreign hotel bookings and tour packages in the domestic market from calender 2007.

This will coincide with service offerings for foreign travellers who wish to purchase Indian flight tickets and hotel bookings. Currently, such services are only available for domestic users and NRIs. “We have business relationships with partners, by virtue of which, we will offer a spate of new services, including international air ticketing, foreign hotel bookings and overseas travel packages.

We expect to start by March-April 2007,” said Stuart Crighton, director (business development) and one of the founders of Cleartrip. Mr Crighton was addressing a press meet here on Wednesday.

This apart, Cleartrip is also in talks with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to offer online railway ticketing facility through IRCTC’s network. “Offering rail ticketing service through our portal is on the radar and we are in talks with IRCTC,” said Mr Crighton.

The company also plans a 360-degree brand-building activity and will start a TV campaign by December. Plans are also there to tap the internet community with blogs and address a mobile delivery mechanism. The central message of these campaign will be to focus on the ‘value-added proposition’ of the Cleartrip brand.

“A print campaign is also being planned exclusively for the eastern India market jointly with an airline. The print media blitzkreig will be launched in two weeks,” Mr Crighton added.