Brands
Staah names India’s top hotel booking channels of 2025
MUMBAI: If hotel bookings were a popularity contest, online travel agencies would still be walking away with the crown. Staah’s latest Top 10 Booking Channels report for 2025 shows familiar giants holding firm, a few nimble climbers gaining ground, and hoteliers quietly sharpening their direct sales game.
Drawing on booking data from thousands of partner properties across India between January and December 2025, the report offers a snapshot of how travellers really book their stays. The picture is lively. Domestic travel is booming, price-conscious consumers are shopping smart, and mobile-first platforms are winning thumbs and taps.
GoMMT continues its long reign at the top, powered by scale, sharp pricing and an ability to appeal to everyone from road-tripping families to midweek business travellers. Close behind, Agoda’s mobile-first approach and loyalty perks have helped it climb confidently into second place. Booking.com holds steady at number three, proving that consistency still counts.
Cleartrip has made one of the more interesting moves this year, jumping two spots as travellers respond to its value-led positioning and strong flight-plus-hotel combinations. Meanwhile, direct bookings through Staah SwiftBook land in fifth place, a clear sign that hotels are nudging guests away from commission-heavy platforms and back to their own digital front doors.
The rest of the top 10 reflects a market in motion. New entrants such as Travelguru, EaseMyTrip and HyperGuest underline the depth and diversity of India’s travel ecosystem, where fresh ideas and niche offerings can still find room to grow.
“2025 has been a big year for travel, with Indian consumers relying on digital platforms at every step of the journey,” said Staah India Ltd national sales head Shoaib Ali. “OTAs remain vital for visibility and demand, but hotels are equally focused on building strong direct channels. The winners are those that balance reach with relationships.”
The wider backdrop is just as upbeat. India continues to rank among the world’s fastest-growing travel markets, fuelled by rising disposable incomes, better connectivity and a growing taste for personalised experiences. Domestic tourism shows no signs of slowing, while international interest in India is gathering pace.
In short, the booking battlefield is busy, competitive and full of opportunity. OTAs may still dominate the skyline, but direct bookings are no longer content to stay in the shadows.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
