'We will continue to grow faster than the competition'

THE domestic tourism industry has faced significant shifts in recent weeks, particularly after the unfortunate terror attack in Kashmir, which disrupted travel momentum in the region. In an interaction with TNIE’s Arshad Khan, Aloke Bajpai, co-founder and Group CEO of ixigo, shares insights on how the incident impacted bookings, evolving traveller preferences and how ixigo's unique growth strategy allows them to grow faster than peers. Additionally, Bajpai weighs in on rising hotel prices and this season's hottest travel trends. Edited excerpts:

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How has the domestic tourism industry changed in the last one month (since the unfortunate attack in Kashmir)? The Pahalgam terror attacks happened at a time when Jammu and Kashmir was seeing a 70% YoY growth in bookings for us in the month of April. The attacks marked a significant blow to the state’s tourism momentum and the region’s security environment. At ixigo, our first priority was to ensure the safety and well-being of our travellers. The temporary shutdown of 32 airports resulted in a marginal disruption to flight services, with cancellations affecting 5-8% of the total scheduled flights between May 7 and May 12. While there wasn’t much impact on the trains business, our bus business actually saw some increase in demand during this time and hence we did not see much impact at an overall level.