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Travel agencies can increase revenues
through Travelguru’s e-distribution hotel platform

Mumbai, April 11th, 2006:- With declining airfares and reducing airline commissions, the travel agent industry in India is going through a tough phase. Euromonitor research on the travel industry indicates that a typical travel agency generates about 70% of their revenues from air ticketing and less than 5% of revenues from hotel bookings.

However in more mature markets like the U.S. and Europe the contribution of hotel sales has been greater than 15% for most agencies. The lack of large hotel consolidators and credible e-distribution platforms in India is cited as the principal reason for the low contribution of hotel revenues to an agency’s overall profitability in India.

But this scenario is set to change very soon with an innovative scheme launched by Travelguru, India’s largest e-distributor of hotels. Travelguru recently extended its hotel distribution to travel agents who register with the company, with an unbeatable, inaugural offer of a 10% guaranteed commission on all hotel bookings made till May 31st, 2006.

Commenting on the offer, Ashwin Damera , CEO Travelguru, said “We have distribution tie ups with more than 650 hotels in India. Our range of hotels is wide – we distribute budget hotels, guest houses, villas, star rated hotels including 5 star and heritage properties. The real value we add to travel agencies is that we guarantee their commission and we give them the ability to sell several hotels that they cannot sell on the GDS”.

Till Travelguru entered the market, most agencies sold hotels through the GDS or by calling the hotel directly. However, there were two problems with this business model. First, many of the budget hotels that the cost sensitive traveler look for are not sold on the GDS. Second, only a small fraction of the commission bookings due to the agency was actually collected. For, unlike BSP for flights, there is no real collection agency for hotel bookings.

The advantage a travel agency has with if they book with Travelguru is that there is no worry in terms of collecting commission. The agency can pay Travelguru with their corporate/individual credit card to confirm the booking for their clients. At the end of every month, Travelguru will automatically credit the commission and incentive due to the agency to the credit card account under which the bookings were made.

After 3 months, agencies that generate large enough volumes can look forward to credit facilities and a separate tracking tool that can track their hotel bookings by city, property, employee etc. Also, to follow is the ability to sell more than 55,000 hotels worldwide through Travelguru.

As a promotional offer, Travelguru is offering any agency that books 50 hotel room nights before 31st May 2006 a full paid, round trip to the Far East.

More information on how to register and start earning hotel commissions can be obtained by calling one of the company's regional representatives. Shaun Dubash (Mumbai) -9820899970, Sharad Kacker (Delhi)- 9810274364, Deepak Mavinkurve (Bangalore) - 9845262753, Mrs Asha Devi (Chennai)- 9884106089.

About Travelguru
Travelguru is a pioneering travel solutions company that offers travelers the opportunity to plan and purchase their travel in a transparent, hassle-free, quick and smart way. Strategic partnerships and alliances with travel industry leaders give Travelguru the edge as an aggregator of travel services. Backed by next generation, real-time, metasearch technology, Travelguru throws up a wider range of travel options for domestic and outbound international travelers. Promoted by two Harvard Business School alumni with significant travel, technology and corporate experience and a team of experienced professionals from industries such as hospitality, travel & trade, financial services and E-commerce, Travelguru is set to redefine the way India travels. Travelguru can be found on the World Wide Web at www.Travelguru.com or can be reached by calling the company's customer support center, +91 - 22 - 4275 4878 (standard charges apply).

About WestBridge Capital Partners
WestBridge Capital Partners is a Mauritius-based, leading Indian venture capital fund with approximately $350 million under management. The fund focuses primarily on high growth India domestic services, IT and outsourced services businesses that are leaders in their market segments. WestBridge’s investors include leading university endowments and foundations. For more information, visit www.wbcp.com

Media contact for Travelguru:
Praveen Meloth
Travelguru
Tel: 022 42754847
E-mail: pmeloth@travelguru.com