Ten years for an online travel agency—is it a lot or a little?

This October, Biletix, an online service for travellers and the B2C project of Vipservice Holding, celebrates its first anniversary—10 years of operation. Over this period, the web resource has evolved from a small startup to one of the largest OTAs on the Russian market with an annual turnover exceeding RUB 11 billion and projects in four countries. We interviewed Igor Konstantinov, Biletix CEO, on how and in which areas the company is growing today.
 

Igor, ten years for an online travel agency—is it a lot or a little?

'On the one hand, it is a little, because we have lots of plans and ideas aimed at improving our value in the eyes of customers. Our future is yet to come. On the other hand, it is a lot: we are among pioneers of the Russian online travel market, which originated in 2008 when the electronic air ticket technology just emerged. Our market and industry are very dynamic and competitive, and we saw "stars" light up and go out when they failed to timely adapt to the ever-changing environment. In contrast, Biletix not only managed to survive several storms but also became tempered under those conditions, maintained its profitability, built a team and started expanding to foreign markets.' 

What achievements of Biletix can be named when summing up the 25 years of operation?

'The main achievement is our team. It is still based on those people who started building the company from scratch. It was they who succeeded in making Biletix a market leader and gaining recognition by the industry community as a trendsetting expert. And it is precisely because of teamwork that today we process more than 6 million user requests per day.

Another of our achievements is our financial performance: in 2018, the company's annual turnover exceeded RUB 11 billion. In addition, Biletix has always been a profitable company.

Moreover, we have evolved from a simple B2C website into a tech business that offers comprehensive travel planning and booking options for tourists, as well as convenient corporate travel solutions for businesses. Our clients include the largest Russian corporations from the tourism, financial and telecommunications industries. Besides, Biletix has become a full-fledged media resource popular among airlines and tourism offices.

And finally, we succeeded in growing into something more than just a local commercial company. First, we started entering neighbouring markets, and second, Biletix was the first OTA in Russia to launch a corporate social responsibility strategy. We support nature reserves and volunteer movements in tourism, cooperate with WWF, promote sustainable tourism, and, finally, we as a team take part in community cleanups. To sum it up, we have grown to the point where we begin to feel our social significance and direct available resources and connections to change the world around us for the better.' 

The online travel market is dynamically changing as the airlines become able to directly sell airline tickets and services using their own websites and metasearch engines. In this new environment, what is the value of OTA for a traveller?

'Our value is that we are the only company to give our users the opportunity of comprehensive travel planning and support before, during and after the trip. Despite the changes in the distribution models of travel products, the key objective of an airline is the same—to ensure safe transportation from A to B, while the task of a metasearch engine is to attract and monetise traffic. However, none of the other types of players in the market possesses the level of quality and automation of after-sales service that we have. And this is confirmed, for example, by the fact that Biletix began to sell the travel service through its call centre, monetising this competence. And people buying it means it is of value and demand.

We offer our users the greatest selection of airfares and offers. Thanks to the development of the charter programme and the technology for creating intermodal transport, we provide end customers with a much wider choice than any individual airline has.'

In which countries is Biletix represented today?

'At the moment, we have opened local offices in Kazakhstan, Armenia and Belarus to more effectively interact with local partners and provide support in national languages. In the beginning, it seemed to us that it was enough to simply copy the existing business processes to other countries, but this was not so. Each country has its own nuances, cultural and mental features, its own business environment. But we quickly learn from mistakes and, thanks to this experience, now our journey of starting a business in a new country has reduced from several years to several months. Next in line are several countries at once, and we are not going to stop our international expansion.'

What will Biletix be in a few years' time?

'The development of Biletix as a high-tech OTA relies heavily on technology. Currently, we are focused on developing as a full-range travel service, as well as continuing to improve our products for corporate business. The key technological trends that we will focus on in the near future include the most profound customisation of user interactions and the automation of existing processes. All of these competencies will scale across the entire Biletix presence.'

Reference

Biletix is one of the largest Russian online resources, providing travellers and corporate clients with the opportunity to conveniently search, book and purchase air and train tickets, hotels, classic and dynamic tours, travel insurance and car rental. Biletix was established in 2009 as a B2C project of Vipservice Holding. Biletix is an accredited agency with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and with the Transport Clearing House (TCH RF) JSC and is also included in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators of the Federal Tourism Agency. Biletix meets all the necessary financial security requirements for these organisations, which guarantees that the company is reliable and financially stable. Biletix has won a number of prestigious awards and prizes, including Travel.ru Star 2014, Golden Site 2015, and Most Reliable Online Travel Agency by TWITW 2015.