Yatra.com, India’s leading travel portal, recently launched travel auctions on eBay India (www.ebay.in). Continuing a strategic partnership the two companies had entered into earlier this year; Yatra.com and eBay India have started offering holiday packages to customers of the auction site.
By participating in this first-of-its kind travel auction in India, eBay customers will be able to bid for holiday packages starting at an incredibly affordable price of Rs 1. At the time of its launch, customers could bid on ‘ride-and-stay’ packages to Nainital, which included AC car-hire from New Delhi to Nainital and deluxe accommodation and sightseeing at the hill station. Yatra.com plans to extend the auction facility for holidays to other popular destinations like Goa and weekend getaways from metros such as Mount Abu, Mahabaleshwar, Coorg, Mysore, Mussoorie, and many others.
Though introduced in India for the first time, world over travel auctions are a good way for customers to find last minute deals. With bidding starting at a low price, customers have the option of buying a holiday (or a ticket) at a price that is within their budget. Bidding and winning a holiday only adds to the excitement of a holiday.
Speaking on the alliance, Bharat Malik, Head of Online Marketing, Yatra.com, said, “With an aim to extend Yatra.com’s partnership with eBay India, this novel concept has been initiated which will offer packages to various exotic destinations at an irresistible price. We are confident that this offer will make planning holidays for our customers an exciting process”.
Mr. Kashyap Vadapalli, Director – Category Management, eBay India said, “eBay India’s core consumers are the youth. Snagging a great deal on their travel plans is important to them & we are delighted that our partnership with our partner Yatra.com provides our 2.5 million registered users access to these travel auctions.”
Yatra.com forged a tie-up with eBay in January, 2010 to promote the products of Yatra.com on eBay India. As a part of this deal, Yatra.com is featured as the recommended travel website on eBay India’s homepage. In return, Yatra.com offers the customers of eBay India the option to search and book travel products - domestic and international flights and domestic hotels from www.ebay.in directly.
eBay customers can book their travel through a dedicated travel page on ebay.in having special offers created by Yatra.com. In addition, eBay India provides dedicated display advertising inventory to Yatra.com on its homepage and other sections of the website. This is done by highlighting the top deals offered by Yatra.com with the help of banners across eBay India.