MakeMyTrip is expanding beyond regular hotel and flight bookings by launching more than 350 guided travel experiences across over 60 Indian cities. The new offering starts on August 15, 2026, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism under the government ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ campaign.
The experiences include activities such as cycling tours, heritage walks and other locally guided programmes. Prices start at around Rs 500, giving domestic travellers more options to explore destinations through organised activities rather than simply booking transport and accommodation.
Role in Tourism
The partnership gives MakeMyTrip a wider role in the domestic tourism market. Instead of only helping travellers book flights, hotels and other travel services, the platform is now bringing local experiences directly into the booking journey.
Many such activities are currently organised by small local operators and often depend on word-of-mouth publicity. By bringing them onto a digital platform, MakeMyTrip aims to make these experiences easier to discover, compare and book. The move also gives the company an opportunity to increase engagement with travellers after they have booked their main trip.
Local Operators Benefit
The guided tours form part of a broader effort to build a more complete travel ecosystem. Travellers who already use MakeMyTrip for hotels or transport can now find activities at their destination through the same platform.
For local tourism operators, the partnership can also provide access to a larger digital customer base. However, maintaining similar service standards across hundreds of experiences and different cities remains an important challenge as the programme expands.
MMT Plan for IPO
The tourism push comes at an important time for MakeMyTrip. In July 2026, MakeMyTrip (India) Ltd reportedly filed a confidential Draft Red Herring Prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for a proposed $1 billion IPO on Indian stock exchanges.
The proposed listing could mark an important change in the company approach to accessing capital in India. The IPO will also bring greater attention to the financial performance, growth plans and ability to maintain profitability as it expands its business.
Profit and Cost
MakeMyTrip enters this phase after reporting strong travel demand in the first quarter of FY27. The company reports gross bookings of $2.9 billion, representing 19.9% year-on-year growth on a constant-currency basis.
The figures indicate continued demand for travel, although investors are likely to look beyond booking growth. Profitability, operating costs, supplier relationships and the ability to turn higher bookings into sustainable earnings remain important factors for the business.
Risks Remain Visible
The guided-tour business also brings operational challenges. MakeMyTrip depends on third-party travel suppliers for many services, which means the quality of customer experiences can vary between operators and locations.
The wider travel industry is also affected by economic conditions, changing consumer spending and fluctuations in domestic and international travel. As MakeMyTrip adds more local experiences, maintaining quality and reliability across different cities will be important for building customer trust.
The company also faces investor scrutiny around valuation and its financial policies, including the absence of dividend payments. The performance of the new experiences could therefore become one of several factors that investors watch as the proposed IPO moves forward.
Traveltech Startups
Travel technology sector in India is expanding as consumers increasingly use digital platforms to plan and manage complete trips. Traveltech startups and established companies are adding services around accommodation, transportation, activities, experiences and local discovery.
For consumers, the new guided tours offer a more convenient way to discover local attractions. For MakeMyTrip, the initiative provides another potential revenue stream and a way to deepen customer engagement.
Its longer-term success will depend on how well the company manages the quality, pricing and availability of these experiences while continuing to deliver growth across its core travel businesses.
