Booking.com is expanding beyond accommodation in India with a direct-payments system and a free business-travel platform for startups and small companies, seeking to close the gap with MakeMyTrip.
Booking.com is deepening its push in India with two bets that go beyond hotel stays: its own payments system and a stronger business-travel offering for small and mid-sized companies. The move reflects a wider effort by the company to become more relevant to Indian travellers, both at home and abroad, in a market where domestic rivals, led by MakeMyTrip, still hold a stronger position in local travel.
Santosh Kumar, Booking.com’s regional head for South Asia, told Skift that the company needs to be better aligned with how Indians actually book. He said that if Booking.com wants to win in India over the long term, it has to matter more to the Indian booker. The company is therefore expanding beyond its core reputation for accommodation and trying to control more of the booking journey, including how customers pay.
That strategy includes a shift away from the traditional pay-at-hotel model. According to Skift, Booking.com is building a payments system that would allow it to collect payments directly, while giving hotels and homestays more flexible payout options. The company is also rolling out a free self-service tool for startups and smaller businesses to arrange work trips without relying on pre-negotiated corporate rates. In July, Skift reported that Booking.com for Business was adding features such as GST-compliant invoicing, traveller safety tools, live spending controls and budget limits as it targeted digitally native companies and younger business travellers.
The competitive stakes are high. Skift noted that MakeMyTrip said it had 79,000 active users for its myBiz small-business product, up 19% year on year. Booking.com’s response is aimed at a segment that is growing quickly and could nearly double by 2034, according to the earlier Skift report. The company is also trying to cross-sell leisure travel to business users, while keeping them inside its ecosystem for both work and personal trips. Kumar also played down the idea that tensions in the Middle East were hurting Indians’ appetite for overseas travel, saying they remain aspirational customers.
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