Ixigo Launches First Packaged Tours with IRCTC Curated Itineraries

Ixigo has introduced Bharat Darshan, its first packaged tour offering, featuring IRCTC-curated spiritual and family itineraries. The company is testing demand before committing to a full holiday package business. If successful, packaged tours could become a new major category for the online travel agency.

EXPANDED:

Ixigo's Bharat Darshan launch represents a deliberate strategic pivot for the platform, which has historically confined itself to selling individual travel components like train tickets, flights, and hotel bookings. The company has built a dedicated interface within its app to display IRCTC's existing package catalog, allowing users to book curated spiritual and family itineraries without Ixigo operating the tours itself. CEO Dinesh Kumar Kotha characterized the initiative as a first step into the packaged travel space.

The launch coincides with a surge in religious tourism across India, with destinations like Ayodhya experiencing notable growth in visitor numbers. Ixigo is monitoring customer response before committing to a broader holiday package business, and the article also hints at Uber becoming a new distribution engine for the company's offerings. Railway approvals and licensing questions remain for the Uber train-ticketing partnership