CHAIRPERSON : Raghav. Gupta, Country Manager, BlaBlaCar
PANELIST : Rajnish Kumar, Co-founder & CTO, ixigo.com
JURY EXPERT & MODERATOR : Madan Padaki, Co-founder, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Head Held High Services
There were a total of seven presenters who shared their stories around travel and tourism.
Presentations
CoYatri.com
Mr Reddy, Founder and CEO of CoYatri.com showcased the mobile application which links up potential travellers with those who are already traveling to the potential destination. It enables linking up and meeting platform for members offering seats to potential people looking to travel to the same location and then further enable communication between the two individuals.
Due to the increase in the number of tourists and travellers, many people do not get their choice of tickets on trains or buses and flights are usually expensive. Due to this application there are numerous benefits that potential travellers can incur savings: Both car owner and traveller can save costs while enabling a safe ride to the potential destination without any public delay.
The audience inquired about robbery, theft or any other crimes associated with the travel. CoYatri assured riders that the mechanism is safe as they conduct due diligence by identifying aadhaar card and other forms of ID checks. The feature is being used by those who own smartphone which supports the application.
Uttara Alert
Mr Chauhan showcased this application where visitors can know about weather conditions before visiting Uttarakhand. Through this Application, a traveller can avoid problems in travelling during rainy weather or any other season by tracking and monitoring the weather.
P ParkE
Ms. Ganguli, CEO of Pristech Analytics shared the problem parking poses in urban cities. She talked about the situation in Bangalore. Most people face the problem of parking their cars when travelling and need a halt in a particular area. PPark E is a social parking app that helps travellers to find parking places in nearby areas where they want a halt. The application provides all necessary information related to parking availability in real time and allows motorists to get parking slots in advance.
Ixigo, Ixigo.com
Mr Dhruv Bhatia, Product Manager at Ixigo.com shared how the Ixigo application is the one-stop shop for travellers looking to travel to different destinations across India and other places. The application helps travellers compare prices, locations, flight options and then come to a decision on their travel. IXIGO is an infomediary that aggregates travel websites to compare information and deals.
However, Ixigo does not handle the booking of tickets, but instead redirects the user to book directly from the travel provider’s page. Ixigo’s revenue model is based on pay per click advertising, tie ups with prominent airlines and hotels, and selling advertising space on their website.
mGuide
Mr Madur Hewage, Assistant Product Manager of Mobitel Pvt Ltd from Sri Lanka gave a detailed presentation about historical, cultural, religious sites across Sri Lanka and how they were linked with India. He said that it is necessary to visit these sites as not only they are important but are also our heritage.
He mentioned that travellers can dial 888 for the information anytime and it would provide guidance around travelling. The content available in Mguide is short, relevant and user-friendly.