Online bus ticketing platform AbhiBus said recently that it has seen an 86% month-on-month rise in travel demand to Ayodhya with the inauguration of the Ram Mandir driving big chunks of Gen Z travellers too. In this interview, Rohit Sharma, COO of Ixigo’s bus business, talks to Alokananda Chakraborty about some other major trends in the industry. Edited excerpts:
What are the changes you have noted in the way Indian travellers use the internet to address their travel needs?
Recent industry reports show a 220 million increase in daily internet users in rural India — from fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2022, with over 96% of users accessing the internet via mobile devices. Many initiatives and policies of the government are also expanding internet access in non-tier 1 cities, spurring industries like travel to shift from offline to online. With the increasing internet penetration, booking bus tickets via mobile apps has reached unprecedented levels. Unlike earlier times when travellers relied on travel agents, it now takes mere seconds to book a preferred seat. This shift has brought about greater flexibility, prompting us to introduce features like free cancellation and instant refunds.
Modern-day travellers prioritise comfort and are willing to pay extra for a superior travel experience, be it on buses, trains, or flights. The majority of travellers booking on bus OTAs prefer AC and sleeper buses for overnight journeys, reflecting the growing demand for comfort and convenience.
Is skiplagging a trend among long-distance bus passengers also?
Skiplagging (booking a longer journey with a stopover being the intended destination) is still not a very popular phenomenon among India’s travellers. Most of the inter-city bus travels are around 600-km-long, which gets covered in a single stretch.
What are the other big trends in terms of new technology deployed and new destinations explored?
Emerging technologies and changing traveller preferences are driving significant changes in the online travel space. One notable trend is the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to personalise travel recommendations and streamline the booking processes. These technologies analyse vast amounts of data to offer travellers tailored suggestions. We are using technology-driven features that make bus travel seamless for our users. We have harnessed technology to integrate boarding point maps directly into our platform. This allows travellers to locate the closest boarding point, saving them time and eliminating any last-minute scramble.
Take the Pink Seat (adjacent seat allotted to females only). While there have been special buses for women, regular buses had this risk of an unfamiliar co-passenger, especially during night travel. Pink Seat is a result of software and AI that helps in automatically tagging the seats as Pink Seat in a scenario where the adjacent seat is booked for a female traveller and the travel is during night hours.
Then there is Abhi Assured, a service that makes full use of artificial intelligence to set a quality trend and behavioural benchmark. Abhi Assured for buses provides customers with compensation of up to 150% of the fare in case of not meeting service quality requirements such as delay in bus arrival, cancellation of bus by participating operators, issues with quality of buses with full refund in case of cancellations by customers. The delay tracking, quality check and compensation, etc., are achieved by the use of AI here.
AbhiBus has a long history of deploying celebrity endorsers but you are rarely seen on properties like IPL. Why?
Since its inception, AbhiBus has been very selective in choosing the right medium for its marketing campaigns. We try to ensure that our content is relatable and reaches the right person at the right time. We spend strategically on celebrity-driven campaigns as well as driving organic reach through moment marketing and outdoor campaigns to reach the right audience. We admire India’s love for cricket, and in the past we have been associated with RCB as their travel partner but of late, IPL streaming has become a cluttered space and right now it doesn’t align with our current objectives.
The southern states seem to be Abhibus’ bastion. How do you plan to improve your services in the north and east?
We are working to enhance our services in the north and east regions. We are focused on expanding our bus network by collaborating with new bus operators to offer broader connectivity. We aim to improve user experience by making our platform accessible in local languages. We are also focussing on localised marketing to ensure our services are well-received in every corner of the country.