Book hotels online, but pay when you check in

[Gustak]

Yatra.com, one of the leading travel companies of India, launched a new service of booking hotels online without charging upfront payment from the customers. Currently customers have to make 100% advance payment to book any hotel in India. The new service will increase the comfort and convenience for travellers, especially those looking forward to book budget hotels as they will now pay only after reviewing the hotel themselves while checking in.

Currently, the service is being offered in 300 budget hotels across India, and by March 2009, it will be extended to over 2000 properties. The customers need to pay a token amount of 10% while making the online booking. Yatra.com constantly endeavours to develop innovative services for its customers, be it in planning a vacation, booking flights or making hotel reservations. Yatra.com is one of the largest sellers of domestic and international hotels in India.

It boasts of the hotel videos, showing customers the actual hotel rooms and its amenities, thereby helping alleviate surprises for them when they actually reach the destination. Choice of hotels can also be done with the help of expert advice from the Yatra.com's travel consultants, destination guides & user reviews, all available by simply logging on to Yatra.com.

Dhruv Shringi, CEO and Co- Founder, Yatra.com said that, "With our competitive pricing and user-friendly features, we try to provide the best in class services to our customers. People are hesitant to make online bookings because they have to pay in advance for something they have not yet seen. They will now have an option to pay directly at the hotel by depositing a small token amount as advance".

Deep Chaddha, General Manager, The Pride, Chennai said, "We welcome this new scheme of Yatra.com. This scheme will be beneficial to the hospitality industry, especially to the travellers from the mid-market segment as they can ensure room booking in the hotel of their choice in advance by paying just 10% of the total amount. This allows customers to build up their resources and spread out their expenses before checking-in to the hotel and going on a vacation."

Rahul Kanungo, General Manager, BJN Group of Hotels, said, 'The travel and tourism industry is going through a tough time and one has to be really innovative to sail through this period. The new scheme of Yatra.com is a perfect example of being innovative, customer centricity & business driven at the same time.'

Sandeep Kumar, General Manager - Sales & Marketing, Avalon Resorts, said, 'This is a great offer introduced by Yatra.com and will prove to be of immense help to the industry. In the wake of marked economic slowdown, the hospitality industry has seen a drop in the room occupancy rate. An offer of this sort should allow hotels to increase bookings and will thus give a boost to the occupancy rates.'

Since its inception, Yatra.com has always kept up with its innovative fibre by providing one-of-its'-kinds services to its customers. Yatra.com was the first online travel company to offer services such as cash on delivery of domestic and international flight tickets, compensation to the customers on flight delay, flight cancellation or baggage loss. It also sprang up with Yatra Power Deals offer, which provides exclusive discounts on leading brands for booking flight tickets.

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Yatra.com, rated as India's No. 1 travel website by Juxt Consult - India Online Survey 2008 is a one-stop-shop for all travel needs. From air tickets to hotel rooms to holiday packages to car rentals, yatra.com has everything to service today's traveler. With yatra.com, you can book air tickets over the internet, through their 24x7 customer care centre, Yatra.com Holiday Lounges or by simply using your mobile phone. Yatra.com gives you an access to the best travel deals across a myriad of national and international destinations. It is one of the largest consolidators of hotels in India. Yatra.com provides reservation for 3,000 hotels across 250 destinations in India. Yatra also has international tie-ups with all the major international airlines and provides real time access to over 90,000 hotels across the world. All products at yatra.com come with a best price guarantee and an assurance of instant bookings. Currently yatra.com is doing average revenue of Rs 80 crores a month and a volume of more than 6,500 air tickets and 300+ hotel room nights per day.