India's Online Travel Agency Yatra Wants to Convert Dormant Business Travelers to Leisure Trips


Skift Take

It's an updated version of the classic bait-and-switch, and any travel business that comes in will be welcome after the Ebix deal fell through earlier this year.

In online retailing speak, conversion means turning website visitors into paying customers. Conversion could also be the next buzzword for struggling corporate travel agencies as they look to turn their client’s employees, grounded due to coronavirus-related restrictions, into holidaymakers. Leading the pack is India’s Yatra. It’s just embarked on an investor roadshow (a virtual one, at least) to drum up interest, and is highlighting how it wants to migrate corporate travelers over to other side as leisure travelers. It's not the only one, as TripActions prepares to unveil a leisure travel product for its business travel clients later this month.

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Yatra updated potential investors on its ambitions at the LD Micro 500 Conference on September 2, ahead of posting its 2021 first-quarter results Wednesday. India's fiscal year covers April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. For the three months ended June 30, 2020, it reported adjusted revenue of $3.1 million, which is a decrease of 86.2% on the previous year's first quarter. It also recorded a first-quarter loss of $4.1 million (adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). Clearly, Yatra is anxious to tell its story to potential new investors. Next up, Yatra is taking part in in the H.C. Wainwright 22nd Annual Global Investment Conference on September 14, and the Sidoti & Co Fall 2020 Virtual Investor Confe