Sharjah company to invest Dh600,000 in India’s travel market

An online travel company in Sharjah is investing in India as growing numbers of Indian tourists visit the UAE.
Musafir.com, a six-year-old e-commerce platform which is part of Universal Travels and Tourism, is investing 10 million rupees (Dh590,000) over the next three years with a focus on increasing flight and hotel bookings, and visas for the UAE.
It has even roped in the Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to boost its marketing efforts.
“It’s a great market with a number of players already, but the category [of online travel bookings] is barely seven to eight years old,” said Albert Dias, the marketing director of Musafir.com. “So we see a market in its infancy as well as a growing middle class providing more and more opportunities.”
The company entered India in 2010 to build partnerships and affiliations ahead of its launch in India last month. While its headquarters in India will remain in Mumbai, Musafir.com says it will open 12 retail shops in large and medium-sized cities.
Read News In Full 30/11/13 Sananda Sahoo/The National