Domestic travel demand, according to Rajesh Magow, CEO of MakeMyTrip, India's largest online travel company, should be back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of September.
Magow also stated that full recovery in foreign travel would take longer and that by the end of current fiscal year, it will be back to pre-pandemic levels.
On a run rate basis, the recovery on domestic flights is about 85-90% for us. It is similar for hotels. For buses, it is about 95% now. Earlier, our estimate was that we would probably be able to see the full domestic travel recovery for the industry by the end of this quarter. But, because of the ATF prices going up, overall inflationary pressure and high fares, we now believe that it might be by the end of September,” he said.
Magow stated that, “Visas for Europe are an issue, but from a consumer standpoint, there is pent up demand for overseas leisure travel. Bookings are picking up for South East Asia. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have opened up. Dubai and Maldives are already popular. We are seeing about 45-50% international recovery on a run rate basis."
According to Magow, MakeMyTrip's full-year results saw a "dramatic" turnaround (from an adjusted operating loss of $18 million in FY21 to an adjusted operating profit of $23.2 million in FY22) as a result of having market share in segments like flights and premium hotels, a more variable cost structure, and contributions from some of the relatively new investments.
He stated the firm is improving "quarter-on-quarter," and that despite the Omicron effect in January and February, the fourth-quarter results were quite excellent.
According to Magow, the total recovery of hotels on a daily run rate basis for MakeMyTrip is 85-90%, but the recovery in the luxury class is 120-130 %.
