Indians Are Beginning to Search for Travel in the Language They Speak: MakeMyTrip
Data from 20 lakh voice conversations on Myra, MakeMyTrip’s Gen-AI Trip Planning Assistant, indicates that voice queries are beginning to reflect a richer, more contextual form of travel intent, with early trends showing significantly higher adoptionacross Indian languages and more conversational search behaviour compared to text.
Chennai – MakeMyTrip, India’s leading online travel company, today shared observations from Myra, its Gen-AI powered Trip Planning Assistant, pointing to an emerging behavioural trend in how Indian travellers are beginning to interact via voice. While Myra’s user base is still growing and now delivers more than 50,000 conversations daily, the initial data suggests that voice is beginning to enable a more expressive, contextual, and linguistically inclusive form of travel discovery, one that is different from how users search via text.
How Voice and Text Queries Are Beginning to Diverge
Even in early usage patterns, the contrast between how users type and speak their travel intent is visible. Majority of text searches are in the neighbourhood of 3-4 words, compressed and keyword-driven, such as “Goa hotels cheap” or “Delhi Mumbai flight.” Voice queries are beginning to look considerably different. Nearly 23% of voice queries exceed 11 words, compared to just 7% in text, as users tend to naturally articulate destination proximity, amenities, budget, group size, and dates within a single spoken interaction. For instance, “Show me affordable hotels in North Goa near the beach with a pool” or “2 adults and one kid, 3 nights from 14th January, budget under ₹15,000 per night.”,
Across several query categories, early data points to voice being used noticeably higher than text. Date-specific queries show the most pronounced difference, at 3.3x higher on voice, with users naturally saying “26th December to 29th” or “next Friday to Sunday” rather than typing compressed date formats.
Informational queries, where users are looking for guidance or explanation around certain processes or services, are indexing 2.7x higher on voice, suggesting that users are beginning to turn to conversational assistance for questions beyond transactional search. Examples include,in Hindi, “सऊदीकावीज़ाकैसेमिलेगा?” (How to get a Saudi visa);in Kannada, “ಜಪಾನ್ಗೆಪ್ರಯಾಣಕ್ಕೆಹೋಗುವಮೊದಲುಯಾವದಾಖಲೆಗಳನ್ನುಸಿದ್ಧಪಡಿಸಬೇಕು?” (What documents should be prepared before going on a Japan trip?); in Marathi, “कोल्हापूरतेदिल्लीजाण्यासाठीकोणतीट्रेनआहेवकितीदिवसलागतातआणितीकोणकोणत्यावारीअसते?” (Which train is available to travel from Kolhapur to Delhi, how many days does it take, and on what days of the week does it run?); in Malayalam,എനിക്ക്ആനയിൽനിന്ന്കൊച്ചിയിലേക്കുള്ളതത്കാലടിക്കറ്റ്തിങ്കളാഴ്ചഉള്ളടിക്കറ്റ്ആണ്വേണ്ടത്. അതിന്വേണ്ടിഞാൻഎന്താണ്ചെയ്യേണ്ടത് (I need Tatkal ticket from Anai to Kochi for Monday. What should I do for that?); and in Tamil, “வீல்சேர்எப்படிபுக்பண்ணனும்னுசொல்லு?” (Tell me how to book a wheelchair?).
Location-specific queries account for 25.1% of all voice searches and index 1.5x higher on voice than text, with users naturally expressing proximity in phrases such as “near beach,” “walking distance from Golden Templeetc. Similar patterns are visible across languages. For instance, in
Bengali, “হ্যালোমাইরাএটাএইহোটেলটাগুয়াহাটিরেলস্টেশনথেকেকতদূর” (How far is this hotel from Guwahati railway station); and in Telugu, “గోవాబాగాదగ్గరలోతక్కువరేట్లుమంచిరూమ్స్కావాలి” (Need good rooms at low rates very close to Goa).
Voice Is Opening Up Travel Search Across India
One of the more telling early signals in the data is how voice is beginning to enable users to search in the language they naturally think and speak. While English dominates text searches, voice interactions are considerably more linguistically diversewith English representing far lower % of voice queries. The gap points to something simple: users who are most comfortable in their own language are gravitating towards voice. For example, for Malayalam, voice trumps text by 46 to 1; for Tamil this ratio is 36:1 and Telugu 32:1.
For userswho found typing a barrier, the shift is less about technology and more about expression. Voice lets them describe exactly what they want, in their own words, without compression.Code-mixed users, who blend Hindi and English, are among the most expressive in early observations, averaging 10.5 words per query. A search like “Manali mein 3 nights keliye hotel chahiye with mountain view and breakfast” captures nuance and preference in a single breath, something that text search has rarely accommodated.
“What we are beginning to see through Myra is encouraging. Voice is starting to give a new set of users, those who are most comfortable in their own language, a more natural way to search and plan travel. For someone in Kochi or Coimbatore who thinks in Malayalam or Tamil, being able to simply speak their requirements, rather than type them in English, changes the experience meaningfully. It is still early, but these initial signals point to voice having the potential to make travel planning more inclusive and accessible across India,” said, Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and Group CEO, MakeMyTrip.
Premium Travellers and Multi-Constraint Queries
Early data also points to premium and elite traveller segments using much longer sentences while using voice on Myra, often combining star category, amenities, group size, and budget into a single spoken request. For example: “5-star villa in North Goa with private pool, 6 bedrooms, for 8 adults under ₹50K per night.” While these highly layered, multi-constraint queries represent a smaller share of total searches, they offer an early indication of how voice may be better suited to capturing complex travel intent than keyword-based text search.
MakeMyTrip has been deeply invested in AI and machine learning for several years, embedding intelligence across the travel lifecycle. From inspiration and discovery to search, booking and post-sales support, AI is integrated at every stage. These proprietary models, built on large language architectures and rich travel-intent data, power Myra. The AI Trip planning Assistant now facilitates over 50,000 conversations daily across multiple languages, including Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and English. More than 45% of queries on Myra are coming from Tier-2 and smaller cities.
About MakeMyTrip:
MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ: MMYT) is India’s leading online travel company, serving travellers since 2000. With over 87 million lifetime transacted users till date, the platform enables consumers to discover, plan and book journeys across a wide range of travel needs. Operating popular consumer brands including MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus, the company serves businesses through corporate travel solutions with myBiz and Quest2Travel; it also supports a wide network of travel agents through the myPartner platform.
MakeMyTrip is GDPR compliant and accessible in more than 150 countries with multi-currency support. The company expanded beyond India with UAE launch in 2021 and recently entered Saudi Arabia, bringing its trusted travel experience to a wider global audience. redBus also has a presence in seven countries beyond India: Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Peru, Colombia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
MakeMyTrip leverages data led personalisation along with ML and AI led innovation to continuously improve the travel planning and booking experience for its users. The company has been consistently expanding its travel related offerings with the aim of bringing all travel needs together in one integrated travel super app.
