Yatra.com Blog

Yatra is pleased to announce the launch of its next generation travel website.

We at Yatra believe that Customer is the king and that our web site should reflect our caring attitude and efficacy. We don’t get a chance to meet all our customers but our endeavor is to ensure that when they visit our website they feel the ‘Vibrant Yatra’. We understand that the website should evolve continuously to match up with the changing tastes, preferences, behavior and needs of our customers.  The loyal customers of Yatra who have used the previous versions of the website since August 2006 would realize the quantum leap of the new interface during this time span as also the evolution of their expectations.

An indicator of our intent can be gauged from the fact that Yatra engaged a UK based Agency to conduct extensive usability studies across India to come up with the most popular interface prototypes. Subsequently we zeroed in to the current interface which will give Yatra’s customers a delightful and a lively experience which is reflected by the all new Aqua Blue color.

Listed below are some points of differentiation:

- New improved search engine – Now customers can search flights, hotels, trains, holidays from the yatra.com home page itself

- Domestic and International searches have merged – this is to cut down on the steps to make the search. So you can perform search for international flight/hotel from the same page

- Intuitive Search – the city will appear by typing in just the first 3 letters

- Easy to locate ‘Retrieve Booking’ section – to make it easy for the customers to print, cancel or track their bookings

- Clearly marked modules on the page

- The placement of key functionality uses the concept of user’s eye path to ensure the most relevant content is viewed first

- Extensive usage of latest Ajax technology: This in turn ensures that the user has to go through lesser steps to perform the same function

We would like to believe that our new web interface is the best in class. However, the jury is not out yet and we would invite you to give your feedback either by commenting on the blog or by filling out one of our surveys on the website.

Happy Buying!

Ever heard of Spirituality in India? I bet 95% of us already know a fair deal about it or would claim to know. If you don’t have an opinion on Spirituality then you probably haven’t lived in India long enough. Indians are globally acknowledged to be “Spiritual”; faith and devotion are visible in every aspect of life here. However we ourselves perceive that spirituality is meant for Sadhus/Saints who are supposed to stay in Himalayas and should not enjoy the “material” life. Till recently there was a concept of compartmentalization – material life and spiritual life as being separate with no overlap. But, there has been a definite shift off late in this regard. With heightened competition professionally and in education, more demanding personal lives and more stressful lifestyles people feel the need for a more rejuvenating and long lasting break with elements of spirituality embedded aka “Spiritual Leisure”.

I remember from the years I had spent abroad; we needed an additional day to recover from the hectic and frantic schedules during a vacation long weekend. A four day weekend would effectively get converted to a 5-6 days with an additional day for recovery. However the evolution of vacationing in the last few years has been quite noticeable not just abroad but also in India - from being an action packed schedule where the idea was to see as many places in one go to a more relaxed and focused vacation. People are now ensuring that their holiday destination is such that the time spent in traveling by road/air is significantly less while the quality time spent on actual leisure is more. Some prime examples of such trips include*:

• Amrtisar - Golden temple pilgrimage can be clubbed with Wagah Border/Jaliawala Bagh
• Tour of Puri temples can be clubbed with a wild-life parks, Sulphur Springs of Bhuwaneshwar
• River Rafting in Rishikesh can be clubbed with Scenic sightseeing in Dehradun, Mussorie and with Ganges dip in Haridwar and Rishikesh

As you would notice that these places are geographically close to each other and cover more than one aspect for a vacationer and that makes it even more tempting - the historical significance of a Wagah border along with the spiritual aspect of Golden Temple OR the scenic beauty of Dehradun/Mussorie with the Ganges dip in Haridwar. Spiritual leisure is here to stay; so don’t be left out, experience it for yourself by planning such a trip for you and your family.

All the best for your upcoming vacation!

Swapnil

* The list is not limited to the places mentioned below. You can get as creative as you want.