Yatra.com receives Rs 200 crore funding ; plans to up its advertising budget to Rs 70 crore

Part of the fund will be routed to marketing in order to create awareness about the brand in Tier II and Tier III cities.

The online travel company Yatra.com has received a funding of Rs 200 crore from venture capital firms Valiant Capital Management, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), and Intel Capital.

Speaking to afaqs!, Dhruv Shringi, chief executive officer, Yatra.com, says, "We will use the funding mainly for three purposes. Money will be routed to advertising and marketing activities, to expand presence in the hotels and holidays space, and to acquire companies in the travel business."

The travel firm plans to increase its advertising budget by 40 per cent in the current financial year. Last year, it spent about Rs 50 crore on advertising. "In the next two months, we will unveil our marketing campaign, which will leverage both above the line (ATL) and below the line (BTL) marketing channels to create awareness about Yatra.com in Tier II and Tier III towns," says Shringi.

ATL will include TV, print and radio campaigns, while on-ground activities will be carried out in various towns. Apart from that, a significant portion of the budget will be allocated to digital media. However, Shringi declined to reveal the exact amount of money that will be routed to digital marketing. The marketing campaign will be targetted towards people living in cities such as Lucknow, Kanpur, Mysore and Mangalore.

The travel firm also plans to acquire travel companies such as tour operators in various parts of India, to expand its physical footprints in the country.