MakeMyTrip urges India and Sri Lanka to unlock next wave of travel growth

MAKEMYTRIP Chief Commercial Officer - Holidays and Experiences Jasmeet Singh last week called for stronger strategic collaboration between Sri Lanka and India's largest online travel platform to accelerate tourism growth, noting that Sri Lanka has "all the right building blocks" to scale its presence in the world's fastestgrowing outbound travel market.

- BY CHARUMINI DE SILVA

Speaking at the India-Sri Lanka Tourism Connect forum titled "From the Ganges to the Kelani: A Voyage of Friendship and Discovery", Singh revealed that Sri Lanka is ranked fifth largest search destination on MakeMyTrip's two major platforms, indicating strong demand potential.

However, he cautioned that Sri Lanka's digital presence remains fragmented.

"If you search on Instagram or TikTok for Sri Lanka, you don't get enough structured information. The content exists, but it is scattered.

Bringing allofit together can significantly shift the needle," he said.

Singh asserted that awareness and engagement must go handin-hand. MakeMyTrip's data-driven personalisation engine, built over years of analysing user journeys can help identify which travellers should be targeted with Sri Lanka content, when, and on which channel.

"Every two hours, user preferences change on our platform. But if Sri Lanka feeds us the right content, we know exactly whom to show it to and how to convert that into bookings," he added.

Singh outlined several trends shaping India's rapidly expanding international travel demand. "By 2030, India is expected to generate 50 million outbound travellers annually, with 70% opting for short-haul destinations within roughly five hours of flying time. This places Sri Lanka in a prime position," he said.