Aiming to streamline the country’s disjointed holiday package industry, Cleartrip—a leading online travel service owned by Flipkart—has introduced a service that lets customers create tailored bundles covering flights, hotels, activities, and transfers.
Cleartrip Targets the $20 Billion Holiday Market in India
Gaurav Patwari, Cleartrip’s Chief Business Officer — Air, notes that India’s travel booking sector is valued between $75–$80 billion. Within this figure, the holidays and package tours segment accounts for around $20 billion. Yet, Patwari highlights that over 90% of these holiday bookings remain mostly fragmented and offline, lagging behind as other areas of travel rapidly embrace digital booking methods.
On Monday, the company outlined its ambition to address what it calls the “messy middle” of Indian travel—an area with a lack of organized, transparent, and digital holiday planning solutions compared to more streamlined flight and hotel bookings. With this initiative, Cleartrip aims to bridge the gap and foster greater digital adoption in the segment.
Making Holiday Packages Easier for Indian Consumers
The company’s new platform emphasizes letting users control their travel experience. Travelers can pick a professionally crafted package as a base, but then they’re free to customize it—adjusting hotels, flights, activities, and transfers to their preference. According to Cleartrip, this strikes a balance between the ease of expert itineraries and the independence of do-it-yourself planning, a key challenge noted by Patwari.
As Patwari explains, “Holiday planning in India has always been an either-or: either you get a rigid package or you spend hours building it yourself. We think there’s a better way. Expert-built, traveler-controlled, and with someone available when you need them.” This strategy reflects the company’s view that Indian travelers want both thoughtfully designed trips and the freedom to tailor their journeys.
Addressing a Largely Offline Market
Given that most Indian holiday package bookings still happen offline, digital travel services like Cleartrip see a considerable opening for expansion. The platform expects that tech-savvy travelers and those who value flexibility and transparency in their trip planning will welcome this shift to customized, digital packages.
Despite the strong uptake of online hotel and flight bookings in India, holiday packages have transformed more gradually. Cleartrip’s focus on technology and flexible options is intended to help move more consumers online when planning holidays, allowing the company to tap into this substantial, underserved market.
Industry insiders are monitoring whether Cleartrip’s customizable model can channel a greater share of the $20 billion Indian holiday package market toward online booking, potentially setting a fresh benchmark for personalization and ease in travel planning throughout the nation.