Dubai: Online travel portal cleartrip.com plans to break even in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market by the end of next financial year, ending March 31, 2013, according to its top executive.
The India-based company, which launched operations in the UAE with Cleartrip.ae almost two years ago, competing with the likes of Makemytrip.ae in this market, plans to grow its business exponentially in the region by customising the product, says CEO Stuart Crighton.
"We have started generating money. The first three years are all about investment in e-commerce. And since our launch in the Middle East in May 2010, we have seen our transactions grow exponentially," he told Gulf News.
Cleartrip has raised about $70 million (Dh257.46 million) of venture investment, according to Crighton.
"We expect to invest between $10 million and $12 million over the next 24 months in this marketplace. That's primarily going into marketing and to some degree as overheads in infrastructure that we have," he revealed, adding that the investment is about reinforcing and localising the brand and business to these marketplaces. "And I think we have a good opportunity to do that," he said.
Consumer split
Cleartrip's customers comprised 80 per cent Indian expatriates when the company started out in this region. "Now, our customer mix is about 50:50. It's a reflection that the brand is already reaching beyond the traditional Indian roots," Crighton pointed out, adding that the company has seen that transition in the last six months.
Cleartrip claims to have sold 600 air tickets and 100 room nights daily last month, a 120 per cent increase over the last year, according to Crighton. There are plans to increase this to 1,000 air tickets and 200 room nights on a daily basis this year.
Rapidly making inroads into the markets in the region, Cleartrip launched its first campaign in the UAE on Monday aimed at increasing the brand's awareness.
While the first stage of the company's branding and marketing strategy involves primarily print and radio campaigns, the second stage will see the focus moving into other forms such as TV and outdoor, according to Crighton.
"But our DNA is an online company and thus, the most measurable aspect where you could put your money is in online," he said.
Localised content
In order to cater to the Arab audience, Cleartrip is working on translating the website content into Arabic and customising it for the region.
"An Arabic version of Cleartrip is inevitable. It's going to come out hopefully in the next three to four months," said Crighton. He added that part of that is being driven by the fact that "we are optimistic to enter other markets in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, that perhaps have a deeper requirement for that".
The company has also localised other elements such as payments and currency issues.
"So it has really become a Middle East product rather than an Indian product that has been put into the Middle East. Now it's time to reintroduce the brand on a slightly larger scale and start to use all the elements that exist in marketing and be able to be a bit more turnkey in terms of the stuff we communicate to customers with."
Essentially, Cleartrip is trying to introduce its brand to new customers in order to develop a deeper relationship with consumers here.
"We are very clear that to be successful in this market what we have to offer the consumers is something that's very localised. We want them to embrace the brand and understand that this is a Middle East business," said Crighton.
Asked if the company was planning to expand its offering and start selling packages, Crighton said: "We don't currently sell packages as we primarily focus on hotels and transportation. The expectation is that we have to provide packages. And so we will definitely be bringing that product into this market at the right time."
