"India is doing a great job in coming out of the slowdown, but the need for better regulator remains"- Deep Kalra, MakeMy Trip CEO

MakeMy Trip CEO, Deep Kalra was currently attending a webinar series: Talk with the Legends, that was organized by VIDEOMEET. Dr Ajay Data, founder of VIDEOMEET hosted the interaction. Talking further in the discussion, Deep Kalra said, India is doing a great job in coming out of the slowdown, but the need for better regulator remains. We must not let monopolistic powers establish a controlled environment in the market and exercise their powers for dominance.

He further added, “The days of pandemic reminded us of existential crisis and bootstrapping in its full form. Europe has done a great job in not giving an unfair advantage to giant-sized companies, and thereby the consumer interest has not been comprised.”

An industry leader in giving people international & domestic travel-stay experiences, Kalra, highlighted the adverse situations his company was subjected to during the lock down. While the executives at MakeMy Trip board-level took 100% pay cut, 50% cut was subjected to other senior members and 10% to other positions, he said.

The hardest thing for the MakeMy Trip remained to retrench 10% of their workforce, which was a great lesson to learn. The team followed the mantra; ‘Never waste a crisis’, the team worked on strengthening their relationships with the hotel industry, travel agents, bus operators etc. This alternative work done around this time has helped them to bounce back as domestic travel is back to 50% of their pre-COVID levels, and luxury hotels are providing them business opportunities more than what they were ready to in pre-COVID times.

The discussion informed the attendees about the survival strategies adopted by leaders to combat the slowdown, changing nature of businesses and digital transformation among sectors.

According to Kalra, India will see the emergence of around 2 million user bases, who will be comfortably doing digital transactions post COVID, this number stood at just 1 million before the pandemic; thus reflecting the gamut of opportunities health tech, fintech, edtech will present in the coming times.

The session was virtually attended on VIDEOMEET application by thousands of users via Laptop, Smartphones and Tablets.

Dr. Ajay Data, while concluding the session said, “Lockdown has taught us all to constantly look for alternatives and be prepared with our contingency plans. This has made the Indian businessmen and young entrepreneurs adopt digital tools more than before due to their accessibility and wide reach. As, it is only via Internet and the virtual meetings that seamless communication could prevail. Talk with Legends is our effort to bring business leaders to the forefront and discuss directly with the viewers their experiences and learnings during the difficult phase of lockdown.”