MakeMyTrip’s Data-Driven PR Drives 50% Surge in Visibility

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MakeMyTrip has dramatically boosted its media visibility using a data-driven communications strategy. By turning platform insights into exclusive reports, the OTA earned 1,800 media exposures within a year—much of it free—and raised headline placements by 46% compared to prior levels.

The move came in response to a puzzling gap: despite strong marketing budgets and share of voice, MakeMyTrip was rarely featured in news headlines. At the India Communication Summit 2025, Sameer Bajaj—the company’s head of corporate communications—explained the challenge: “We were part of trends but not leading them”.

To solve this, MakeMyTrip aligned its internal teams to mine platform data—handling roughly 230 transactions per minute—and publish unique insights that stood out to editors. The three produced reports resulted in a 50% uptick in media pickups and, crucially, headline dominance in 46% of those mentions.

Industry experts note this approach demonstrates the power of “owned insight” in building brand presence for OTAs. Instead of traditional PR pushes, MakeMyTrip leveraged proprietary data to control the story—and the conversation.

The outcomes are multi-fold: greater media visibility establishes thought leadership, builds traveler trust, and reinforces MakeMyTrip’s position as India’s top OTA. The campaign also energized internal teams, uniting corporate communication, marketing, and product under shared goals.

As travel brands grapple with crowded news cycles, MakeMyTrip’s success offers a blueprint: turn platform operations into newsworthy intelligence. For OTAs ready to lead, data isn’t just operational—it’s strategic brand fuel.