It’s not surprising that Stuart Crighton ended up in India and building a business and life there. What is surprising is that he ended up in travel and building an online travel brand, Cleartrip, that’s become as close to a household name as one gets in India.
It’s
not surprising that Stuart Crighton ended up in India and building a business
and life there. What is surprising is that he ended up in travel and building
an online travel brand, Cleartrip, that’s become as close to a household name as
one gets in India.
His
ties to India are strong. His father was born in Mysore and spent the first
15-16 years of his life in India.
In an interview with the Economic Times,
Crighton said, “As a kid, when I was with my paternal grandparents, there was
always a smell of curry. My father loved curry. There was always an environment
that was influenced by India in the house. When I came to India, I thought I'd
be here for one year. I have been here 18 years, my wife is Indian and I am a
PIO cardholder. I am effectively Indian.”
While Crighton loved to travel – his dad was in
the army and so the family travelled a lot – he didn’t build his career in
travel. He spent most of his life in the energy sector and somehow ended up in
a job at Abacus looking after the GDS’ operation and strategy across India, Pakistan, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
He recalled the early
days when he and his co-founders Hrush Bhatt (who looks after product and
strategy) and Matthew Spacie (who has left the business) were discussing the
start-up of Cleartrip. “We had this consultant who came in and confused the
hell out of us,” he said. Despite that, they agreed to go ahead and in June
2006, Cleartrip was founded.
Today
it is considered the smarter man’s OTA, and is regarded as the number two in
the market after MakeMyTrip, which had a spectacular IPO success in 2010.
Cleartrip chose the strategic investment route and its latest investment was
US$40 million from Concur – with the total invested in the company since launch
estimated at US$56m.
According
to research, by the end of 2015 the Indian
online travel market is expected to hit a gross online bookings number of US$12.5
billion, with a huge push coming from mobile traffic.
And
mobile is where Cleartrip is hoping it can change the game and make the leap to
#1 position, overtaking MakeMyTrip. “We have been focusing on our mobile product and
strategy for five years now and that’s something we believe at Cleartrip –
build a strong product experience and people will come.”
A
strong product builds loyalty especially among frequent travellers and allows
Cleartrip to rise above the fray of price wars. “There’s always a price war
going on in India,” he said.
Currently,
mobile accounts for 51% of searches and 31% of transactions. Last year, the
company also launched Cleartrip Wallet to tackle the pain points surrounging
payments.
“No
one sets out to be the second anything,” said Crighton when asked how it feels
to be number two. But Cleartrip’s focus on being “the smarter man’s OTA” has
allowed it to build up a successful brand in a highly complex and difficult
market.
It
is also building a business that’s poised for the future, whatever disruption
may come its way.
While
MakeMyTrip has opted for a public listing, Crighton said there were no plans
for an end game for the co-founders except to “keep doing what we love and
innovating. There’s still so much to do".
“Seven
to eight years ago, we disrupted traditional travel and now new forces are
disrupting us. You realise how vulnerable you are – I mean, we are now seen as
a legacy business – and so we have to continue to innovate, to disrupt
ourselves.”
One
thing he’s learnt about doing business in India? “It's a forgiving marketplace. You can try a lot of
things. It teaches you to be patient. The business cycles tend to be longer
than the US. Also, stop making comparisons with other markets. Accept that you
are here because there is enormous opportunity for business.”