ixigo Hotels Expansion: What Its Next Growth Bet Means
The ixigo hotels expansion is part of a wider reinvestment
ixigo is building out hotels while reinvesting operating leverage from its mature trains, flights and buses businesses into hotels, AI and brand building. The company has moved incrementally from flight metasearch to a full-stack OTA, a journey that began in 2007.
The company said it has more than 10,000 direct hotel partnerships across nearly 700 towns, with around 90% of hotel bookings coming from its existing user base. It is also expanding hotel supply through direct relationships and its acquisition of Brevistay.
What ixigo does
ixigo helps travellers find information and book flights, trains, buses and hotels. Its portfolio includes the ixigo app, train-focused ConfirmTkt and bus-focused AbhiBus.
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The platform earns through commissions, convenience and service fees, value-added services, advertising and other services. In Q1 FY27, its GTV rose 19% year over year to ₹5,524 Cr, while adjusted EBITDA fell 7% to ₹29 Cr as the company continued investing in hotels, AI and brand building.
How ixigo is building hotel demand
The strategy is to use the company’s large train, bus and flight user base to build hotel demand, rather than acquiring every hotel customer from scratch. The company’s ambition is to become the number one discovery and booking platform for India’s mid-market and budget hotels.
The company’s stated timeline
Hotels remain in the investment phase, with the company expecting a longer gestation period than its other categories. CEO Aloke Bajpai said, “Hotels will have a longer gestation period than our other categories. We are currently a small player in a large market, but over the next four to five years, our ambition is to become the number one discovery and booking platform for India’s mid-market and budget hotels. That ambition will require investment, patience and disciplined execution. We intend to bring all three.”
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