By Ankur Sharmaa, Chief Business Officer, Via.com – Ebix Travels
For decades, India’s travel industry followed a pattern where large operators managed to capitalise on global distribution and capital-heavy contracts, while smaller agents were relegated to thin margins and limited choices. Creative entrepreneurship amid this was largely limited to an ecosystem of fragile, informal networks. However, the availability of technology changed the course of the sector.
According to RedCore, an arm of the consulting firm RedSeer, India was home to about 300,000 travel agents during the pandemic in 2021. Of these, the bulk of the business was attributed to the top 750 agents whose turnovers ranged from Rs 3 crores to 5 crores. While technology enabled single-individual businesses with inventory access and the ability to scale, these businesses are currently collectively contributing to India’s travel industry, forecasted to surpass $125 billion by FY27.
A notable, albeit consequential, shift has been the collapse of entry barriers such as expensive registration costs, initial setup costs, or low commissions. Previously, a fresh entrant had to expend upfront capital. Models like zero-commission marketplaces have challenged traditional fee-heavy intermediaries and reset expectations across the industry.
The rise of technologies and the availability of B2B platforms enabled a surge of micro-entrepreneurs and many first-generation business owners to reimagine travel agencies without massive storefronts or large teams, thus enabling scale alongside localisation of opportunities. Moreover, the arrival of platforms resulted in something paradoxical.
However, though India is a fast-growing market and a culturally diverse destination that foreigners wish to travel to, outbound and domestic demand have kept accelerating beyond the forecast. Platforms help leverage an opportunity that previously existed but remained unevenly distributed.
To be sure, the rise of B2B platforms coincided with a structural shift in Indian demand. As things stand, tier-2 and tier-3 cities are no longer feeder markets for metropolitan cities but have emerged as self-sustaining travel hubs. Higher disposable incomes, better digital literacy, and aspirational travel behaviour have converged.
In these markets, agents continue to play a central role as clients seek end-to-end support in situations such as support for visas, group travel, fixed departures, and personalised itineraries. Unlike metros, OTA (online travel agency) competition is less intense, and relationships matter more than discounts. B2B platforms amplify this advantage by equipping agents with inventory depth and operational efficiency.
Behind the scenes, the real innovation of micro-entrepreneurs has been visible with workflow automation. For instance, ledgers, reconciliation tools, sales analytics, and 24×7 global support availability have dramatically reduced administrative overhead. Micro-entrepreneurs that once required back-office teams are now managed by individuals or smaller teams.
On the technology front, platforms connecting over 150,000 buyers across 100+ countries have turned inventory from a privilege into a utility. In fact, a small agent from a non-metro city today has more or less the same access to technology as million-plus hotels and global airlines, with sightseeing inventories that were once available only to agencies from larger metropolitan centres. Technology infrastructure such as APIs, dashboards, integrated payments, and automated vouchers, together have replaced that informal dependency with formal capability.
Although platforms enable scale, their technical capabilities also introduce a critical tension. When platforms become indispensable infrastructure, questions of pricing transparency, dependency, and margin pressure inevitably arise. The best B2B platforms recognise these and invest in long-term agent viability.
The broader travel and tourism sector is projected to surpass $38 billion by the early 2030s. As we reach there, efficiency may not be optional, and as volumes grow, only those agents who leverage platform-led productivity will remain competitive. The optimism is evident considering the financial performance of leading B2B platforms and their strong revenue growth. Global investors backing these platforms are effectively betting on India’s fragmented entrepreneurship model, scaled through technology.
India is expected to become one of the world’s largest outbound travel markets within the next few years. The rising demand cannot be served by a handful of large players alone. It will also require tens of thousands of capable, distributed entrepreneurs, exactly the ecosystem B2B platforms are cultivating.
B2B travel platforms have quietly reshaped the industry and given India’s micro-entrepreneurs tools to compete globally. The next phase will test the maturity of these platforms. Will they remain enablers or drift towards being gatekeepers? Will integration remain open and customizable, or be rigid? Answers will determine whether micro-entrepreneurship across Bharat survives or truly thrives.