AI helping ixigo to build travel tech for the next billion Indians

Ixigo's AI-driven trip-planning tool, 'PLAN', has crafted over 282,700 personalised itineraries, engaging more than 1.5 million users since its launch last year

When Rajnish Kumar, co-chief executive officer of travel technology firm ixigo, travels to his favourite destinations like Spain, Malaysia, and Singapore, artificial intelligence (AI) plays a vital role in shaping his itineraries. AI is also behind the trip planning for millions of its customers, from flight searches and hotel bookings to payments.

 

Ixigo’s AI-driven trip-planning tool, PLAN, has generated over 282,700 personalised itineraries and engaged more than 1.5 million users since its launch last year.

 

AI is transforming ixigo’s business by ramping up revenue, predicting airfares, and building better customer service experiences, said Kumar in an interview.

 

Currently, ixigo’s AI chatbot, Tara, handles 86.95 per cent of customer service queries without human intervention. The system manages 1,000 voice interactions daily, totalling 100 hours of conversation per day. The company developed this multimodal technology in-house.

 

 

Tara, a chat-based travel assistant, uses natural language understanding, deep learning, and contextual awareness. It also assists users with post-booking queries and issues.

 

“We can converse with customers in Hindi and English, understanding and resolving their queries with a local accent,” Kumar said in a video interview. “We handle thousands of calls daily, and the fascinating part is that many users can’t tell whether they’re speaking to a man or a machine.”

 

The voicebot now includes emotion recognition, allowing it to identify user feelings for more empathetic responses. The company plans to expand its language support.

 

Travel tech for the next billion Indians

 

Founded in 2007 by Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar, ixigo has focused on empowering travellers to plan, book, and manage trips across trains, flights, buses, and hotels. The two co-founders, IIT Kanpur alumni, previously worked together at Madrid-based travel company Amadeus before returning to India.

 

In July 2023, ixigo launched PLAN, India’s first generative AI-based travel planning tool, built on OpenAI’s technology. The tool assists travellers with trip planning, providing itineraries, real-time information, and personalised recommendations based on input criteria.

 

The tool harnesses the collective power of AI and comprehensive travel data to reshape how travellers organise and prioritise their trips. Users can craft personalised plans, discovering fact-checked recommendations for attractions, hotels, restaurants, and activities based on their location, time, or weather conditions.

 

Insights from PLAN show an increasing trend of Indians opting for five- to seven-day international vacations. Destinations such as Dubai, Thailand, Singapore, the Maldives, and Bali lead the list, driven by affordable airfares and simplified visa processes. Popular destinations like London, Paris, Japan, Switzerland, and Sri Lanka also rank in the top 10.

 

For domestic travel, 60 per cent of itineraries on PLAN are for spiritual destinations. The platform has seen a rise in pilgrimage-related trips, with popular routes including visits to the Tirupati temple, boat rides in Ayodhya, and Krishna temple tours. This reflects a growing interest in faith-based travel among Indians.

 

More than 50 per cent of PLAN users are from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, with many booking international trips, contributing to strong travel demand. The platform has seen 50 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in 2024, with a 55 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase from cities like Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Amritsar, and Surat. Popular destinations for these travellers include Singapore, Thailand, Malé, Dubai, and Oman.

 

AI is also enabling ixigo to build products that create more value and enhance revenues. Assured, the company’s flight, bus, and train cancellation product, is entirely governed by AI. The system determines pricing based on sectors, dates, and airlines, without any manual input.

 

“This approach not only improves our revenue and margins but also enhances efficiency,” Kumar said.

 

In addition, ixigo introduced Price Lock, an AI-powered feature that allows travellers to lock airfare for up to two days before finalising bookings. This feature helps users avoid fare hikes, which can increase by 20-25 per cent during peak seasons. It makes travel planning more convenient, particularly around busy periods like the festival season.

 

“AI is also driving operational efficiency by automating customer interactions via voice and chat,” Kumar explained. “This allows us to serve customers faster, more affordably, and at a higher level of service than human agents.”

 

Regarding AI’s impact on jobs, Kumar reassured that there would be no layoffs.

 

“I don’t see layoffs. The company was growing at a certain pace before, and now we’re just more efficient. We don’t need to grow headcount at the same rate. We are a 500-workforce company, and you can see where we are in terms of revenue, profit, and growth,” he said.

 

The Indian online travel agency (OTA) market has undergone drastic changes in recent years. The travel industry, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, saw a decline in bookings and revenues globally. Despite these challenges, ixigo achieved profitability in 2020-21, navigating the pandemic with 4.5x revenue growth from 2019-20 to 2022-23 (FY23). It became the fastest-growing OTA in India during this period and the second-largest in terms of operating revenue in FY23.

 

In 2023-24 (FY24), revenue from operations reached Rs 655.9 crore, up from Rs 501.3 crore in FY23.

In the second quarter (Q2) of 2024-25, revenue grew 26 per cent Y-o-Y, reaching Rs 206.5 crore, up from Rs 163.9 crore in Q2FY24.