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India's alternative accommodation market expected to reach $4.7 billion in GBV by FY29: Report. , ET Bureau Last Updated: Oct 14, 2026, 05:53:00 PM IST India's alternative accommodation market is projected to grow to $4.7 billion in gross booking value by FY29 from $2.6 billion in FY26, according to a Booking.com and VIDEC Consultants report. Digitally distributed listings crossed 200,000 in FY26, with tier-two cities, religious centres and emerging leisure destinations driving expansion. New Delhi: The size of the alternative accomodation market in India is expected to reach $ 4.7 billion in terms of gross booking value in financial year 2029, up from $ 2.6 billion in financial year 2026, as per a new report released by Booking.com in partnership with travel advisory and research firm VIDEC Consultants on Wednesday. As per the report, the total number of digitally distributed alternative accommodation listings (comprising the formal segment of the market) in financial year 2026 have crossed the 200,000 threshold. This number is up 26% from financial year 2025. Branded hotel rooms supply grew in single digits in the same time frame, as per the report titled 'How India TravelsTM 2026 - The Homes Edit'. While the pace of supply growth is expected to moderate from the 26% recorded in financial year 2026, the segment's gross booking value is still projected to grow at 21.2% CAGR through financial year 2029, outpacing the overall travel market. Despite supply expansion, the category remains underpenetrated relative to the broader accommodation industry. Alternative accommodation currently represents around 13% of lodging gross booking value, while online searches for the category grew 6% between financial year 2024 and financial year 2025 compared with 2% for hotels. According to the report, while major metros and classic vacation spots still account for nearly half of total inventory in financial year 2026 (46%), better connectivity and evolving travel habits are rapidly shifting growth toward tier-two cities, religious centers and emerging leisure corridors. This is reflected in listings across markets like Greater Noida, and Indore growing by over 100% in June this year compared to June 2025. Destinations such as Ayodhya saw growth in the range of 95%-108%. Suman Billa, additional secretary and director general, ministry of tourism said the alternative accomodation segment presents a 'substantial solution' for India's accomodation needs. "The demand is exploding but the supply is not keeping up. We have about 200,000 branded rooms. There are several hotels in the pipeline, but you will require a lot more accomodation options in the country," he said. "There is an opportunity to include homestays and alternative accomodation options in bridging the gap," he added. He said in destinations such as Kerala and Goa, alternative accomodation are doing better than hotels on not just price realisation but also on the experience and value they offer. The overall growth of alternative accommodation marks a 'major' inflection point in India's travel economy, said Santosh Kumar, regional head, for South Asia at Booking.com. "We are seeing a fundamental shift where alternative accommodation is no longer just supplementary inventory, it is actively driving tourism expansion in non-metro markets and regional hubs," he said. "As local hosts adopt tech-driven tools, they are not only meeting the diverse demands of modern travellers, but are also building sustainable, scalable business models that contribute directly to local economies. Alternative accommodation is no longer an alternative. It has become a core driver of modern travel culture across the country," he added. Virendra Jain, co-founder and CEO, VIDEC Consultants said India's alternative accommodation segment is entering a new phase of maturity. "What began as a largely fragmented supply base is becoming an important part of the country's wider travel ecosystem, supported by growing demand, digital distribution and improving operating capabilities," he said. "The opportunity now lies in strengthening the foundations of this growth through greater formalisation, technology adoption, consistent quality and destination-level infrastructure, while ensuring that the diversity and local character of these stays remain at the heart of the experience," he added. Read More News on

Booking Holdings unveils AI travel startup Vayo, based in Seattle, with a planned $100M investment. by Todd Bishop on Oct 14, 2026 at 6:00 am Booking Holdings is launching a new Seattle-based travel startup called Vayo, led by serial entrepreneur Mike Fridgen, betting that AI agents built for travel can do a better job of planning and managing trips than general-purpose assistants from the likes of OpenAI and Meta. The travel giant - parent of Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak and OpenTable - says it plans to invest $100 million in the venture, depending on Vayo's progress and market conditions. Vayo, which is opening a waitlist for a free private beta Wednesday, offers AI agents that connect to a user's inbox to pull in flight, hotel and restaurant confirmations. They then monitor the bookings for price drops, openings at sold-out hotels and other changes. If a flight is delayed, Vayo flags what that means for the hotel check-in or dinner reservation. It also recommends restaurants and activities based on past trips. Vayo users can make restaurant reservations now, with flight and hotel booking expected in the next few weeks. The venture is part of a broader effort by Booking Holdings to adapt to the rise of AI agents. Big tech companies and startups are developing general-purpose agents that can plan trips and make bookings, potentially bypassing traditional online travel sites. The company is pitching Vayo as a personal travel agent "built for trips, not tasks." "We are out to build the leading consumer experience in travel - nothing less," said Fridgen, the company's CEO and co-founder, who previously led Madrona Venture Labs, the Seattle startup studio, and was CEO of Decide.com, the price-prediction startup acquired by eBay. Vayo's website promises neutrality. "Our only agenda is yours," it says. "Vayo is part of Booking Holdings, but it works for you, not for any one site. If the better room is on the hotel's own site, or the right stay is on another platform, that's where Vayo will send you." A return to travel: It's the latest travel venture for Fridgen, who was on the founding team of Expedia's vacation-package business, co-founded travel startup TripHub, led Alaska Airlines' digital business and was founding head of product at Farecast, the airfare-prediction startup acquired by Microsoft, after which he led Bing's travel and shopping search businesses. Vayo's CTO and co-founder is Allen Chen, who was previously CTO of Fanatics Collectibles and before that a partner in Boston Consulting Group's AI practice. A serial entrepreneur himself, Chen co-founded two Seattle software startups, CloudPress and DataBlade, which were acquired by News Corp. and BCG, respectively. The startup's head of growth is Ian Fliflet, the former chief growth officer at OfferUp, the mobile marketplace for buying and selling used goods locally. Fridgen said Fliflet helped build OfferUp's growth from the start and was at the top of his list for the role. Vayo has about 20 employees, all working in person in downtown Seattle, and has been building the product for about six months. The company's name is pronounced VAY-oh, as in "vacation." For Booking Holdings, the new venture marks a return to Seattle, home to its biggest rival, Expedia Group. Booking.com opened a Seattle office in 2012 and moved it to Bellevue the following year, with plans for as many as 350 jobs. It closed the Bellevue office in 2020, amid the pandemic. A startup inside a giant: Given the team's entrepreneurial experience, why build inside a travel giant instead of raising venture capital for an independent startup? For one thing, the arrangement gives Vayo access to Booking Holdings' travel inventory, infrastructure and capital, while letting the team operate like a startup, Fridgen said in an interview. Vayo has a unique opportunity to succeed with the backing of the world's largest online travel company in "a very crowded, very noisy category with a lot of competitors," he said. Fridgen was already working on a consumer travel idea when his plans lined up with Booking Holdings' interest in investing in new ventures. "It was really a meeting of the minds," he said. In a footnote in its news release, Booking Holdings said the $100 million investment will be "subject to continued advancement of the product and market conditions." Fridgen said Vayo's team will share in the value it creates, without giving details on the ownership structure. Booking Holdings is also backing Lola, a separate AI startup from Kayak co-founders Steve Hafner and Paul English, which launched last month. "It's a portfolio approach," Fridgen said, describing Lola as focused on everyday experiences, such as things to do on a weekend at home, while Vayo is "mile-deep in travel scenarios." In a statement, Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel described travel as one of the most complex consumer experiences, with too much of the work still falling on travelers to manage. Fogel said he's confident in the Vayo team "and their ability to move with purpose, capitalize on early learnings and adapt at pace as they explore what the next generation of personalization in travel can look like." How it works: Vayo is initially targeting frequent leisure travelers who plan trips for family and friends, often in Google Docs, Notion or spreadsheets. That group makes up about 5% of travelers but roughly 30% of travel spending, Fridgen said. In a demo, Fridgen showed how Vayo built his upcoming trips - to Amsterdam, to Philadelphia to visit his son in college, and to Guatemala for the holidays - within about a minute of connecting to his email. The company says Vayo reads only travel confirmations, not the rest of a user's inbox. In this demo video, Vayo plans a trip to Japan, landing a hard-to-get dinner reservation, repricing the flights to save $180 and booking a room at a sold-out hotel when one opens up. (Vayo Video) Vayo also looks for patterns. For example, it noticed that Fridgen travels to Philadelphia every March, during his son's sports season, and suggested a mountaineering trip after he climbed Mount Rainier with his daughter this summer. When the fare dropped on one of his Alaska Airlines flights, Vayo automatically captured the difference as a credit and notified him, Fridgen said. For hotels, it currently prompts users to rebook. During the demo, he reserved a restaurant table through OpenTable without leaving Vayo. Behind the scenes, Vayo runs numerous AI agents at once, using different models for different jobs. "At any given moment, we have all of these agents working on a user's behalf," Chen said. "We are picking the best models that are best suited for those tasks." The company has built its own system on top of off-the-shelf AI models, but Chen said the company will probably need its own custom models for some tasks soon. Vayo connects directly with Booking Holdings brands including Booking.com, Kayak and OpenTable, and has signed a partnership with ticketing platform SeatGeek. Because it pulls travel confirmations from a user's email, it can also track bookings made anywhere else, including directly with airlines and hotels. Fridgen said users will be able to book flights and hotels in Vayo in the coming weeks, followed by features for planning trips with travel companions and a native mobile app. Vayo is free during the private beta. Fridgen said the company hasn't settled on a business model. A subscription is one possibility as the startup learns which features people are willing to pay for, he said. Fliflet noted that travel also offers traditional revenue from commissions on bookings. Agents and platforms: Vayo is entering a crowded field of AI travel apps, including trip planners from startups and the big online travel sites. However, Fridgen said he sees general-purpose personal AI agents - such as Meta's Muse and fast-growing San Francisco startup Instinct - as Vayo's main competitors. A growing number of agents have run into resistance from the sites they use. Amazon blocked Meta's Muse from its store last month, and Resy locked out a user whose Instinct agent repeatedly pinged the site for a table. Vayo is taking a different approach, relying on APIs and direct partnerships with travel companies, Fridgen said. Those direct relationships make the service more reliable for customers and avoid the risk of being blocked, he said. Fridgen said Vayo wants to work with companies across the industry, not just Booking Holdings brands. The startup doesn't have a direct relationship with Expedia, but is open to one, he said. "The only way this can live up to its promise as an orchestrator of your travel life that you'll trust is if it has all the options," he said, "and that's what we're going for."

GT Ferreira backs LekkeSlaap as founders sell up. LekkeSlaap co-founders Jonathan Womersley and Marcel van de Ghinste have sold the popular accommodation booking platform. LekkeSlaap, the South African accommodation booking platform and rival to Airbnb, has been sold to a consortium of local investors that includes the Dippenaar and Ferreira family offices and Investec. Co-founders Jonathan Womersley and Marcel van de Ghinste have exited the business. The transaction value was not disclosed. The consortium is co-led by Bellair Road Investment Partners and Janic Capital, the Dippenaar family's investment vehicle, led by Adriaan Dippenaar. It also includes the Ferreira Family Office - the family office of Rand Merchant Bank and FirstRand co-founder GT Ferreira, LekkeSlaap confirmed to TechCentral - the Moolman Family Office and Investec. LekkeSlaap's executive management team, led by CEO Frans Joubert, has invested alongside the consortium and will continue to run the business. The deal marks the exit of Womersley, Van de Ghinste and other longstanding shareholders from a business that began as a garage-based travel tech start-up in 2009. LekkeSlaap itself launched in 2013 and now lists more than 40 000 properties across Southern Africa. It says it has served more than nine million guests since it was founded. The deal covers all of Tripco, LekkeSlaap's parent company, of which LekkeSlaap is the main consumer-facing brand, LekkeSlaap told TechCentral. "To see LekkeSlaap grow from a small start-up into a brand used and loved by millions of South Africans has been incredibly rewarding," said Womersley in a statement on Thursday. "After so many years, finding new owners who share our culture, values and vision for the business matters enormously to us." The new owners have brought in two well-known South African business leaders as directors, both of whom have also invested. New board members. Herman Bosman, chairman of the Outsurance Group and Fortress Real Estate and a former CEO of RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings, has been appointed chairman of LekkeSlaap. He has invested through Atelier Partners. He is joined on the board by Rob Paddock, co-founder of online education company GetSmarter, which was sold to US-listed 2U for about R1.4-billion in 2017, and of Valenture Institute. "LekkeSlaap is a great example of what South African entrepreneurs can build when they combine a strong customer proposition with persistence and ambition," said Bosman in Thursday's statement. Bellair Road Investment Partners focuses on long-term growth investments, and its portfolio includes Montego Pet Nutrition, Econofoods and Freedom of Movement. LekkeSlaap competes with global platforms including Booking.com and Airbnb for South African travellers. Joubert said the company would use the new backing to expand further across Southern Africa and invest more in technology and localisation. "LekkeSlaap remains proudly local and independent in spirit, but with the right partners behind us, we can now dream even bigger," said Joubert. - (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media