Inspired by his father’s frequent air travels and the burden of extra charges, Rikant Pitti embarked on a mission to revolutionize ticket booking. Witnessing his father’s recurrent expenses on booking charges, Rikant envisioned a solution to save on these additional costs through online ticket booking. With minimal initial funding, Rikant’s brainchild, Ease My Trip, has now blossomed into a colossal enterprise valued at Rs 8780 crore.
The inception of My Trip, later rebranded as Ease My Trip, didn’t rely on external funding. Instead, Rikant Pitti’s visionary approach led to the company’s IPO in 2021, propelling it to the forefront of the nation’s air ticket booking preferences.
Today, Ease My Trip stands as India’s second-largest travel agency, boasting a network of 61,000 travel agents, over 10 lakh hotel partners, and collaborations with 400 airlines, serving more than 11 million loyal customers.
Rikant Pitti’s entrepreneurial spirit ignited during his college days while pursuing engineering. Witnessing his father’s frequent business travels, Rikant identified the exorbitant fees charged by travel agents, prompting him to take matters into his own hands. By booking tickets directly, he saved his father substantial amounts, laying the foundation for his future venture.
This initiative expanded beyond familial bounds as Rikant began booking flights for acquaintances, catching the attention of airlines and culminating in his transition to a travel agent. Capitalizing on this opportunity, Rikant established Duke Travels, leveraging bulk SMS campaigns to spread awareness amidst his college commitments.
However, Rikant’s ambition outgrew the limitations of his partnership with airlines, leading him to forge alliances with multiple carriers. From humble beginnings in a one BHK apartment in 2008, Rikant, alongside his brother, birthed Ease My Trip with a modest investment of Rs 15 lakh.
The pivotal shift came when Rikant redirected focus towards direct customer engagement, albeit at the cost of losing a significant portion of their travel agents. This bold move, offering zero convenience fees and hidden charges, propelled Ease My Trip to unprecedented heights, selling over 20,000 flight tickets daily by 2015, with revenues soaring to Rs 1500 crores.
Despite facing formidable competitors like Make My Trip and Yatra.com, who poured substantial investments into their ventures, Ease My Trip flourished, boasting a consistent 50% annual profit growth since 2008. Rikant Pitti, the college dropout turned tycoon, now cruises in a Lamborghini worth Rs 4.02 crore and recently invested in a commercial property worth Rs 100 crore in Gurgaon’s Sector 32.
Rooted in Delhi, Rikant Pitti’s educational journey began at Vivekananda School in 1995, culminating in a B.Tech degree from Kurukshetra University in 2010. Through perseverance and innovation, Rikant Pitti scripted a remarkable success story, transforming a simple idea into a multi-billion rupee empire.
