India in focus for Booking.com global expansion plans, says country manager

Online reservation platform Booking.com sees India as a "big priority" in terms of its global expansion plans and a long-term strategic player in the travel and tourism space, Santosh Kumar, the firm's Country Manager for India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, said.

In an interview to PTI, Kumar said the company is betting big on India and it continues to invest "very heavily" in the country's market.

Brazil and Japan, too, are priority markets for Booking.com as it looks at further expansion in markets apart from the US, he said.

"When you look at Booking.com and also Booking Holdings, the parent company... post-pandemic, our domestic business has also grown very significantly... It (India) is a very big priority. We continue to invest very heavily in this market and we are really looking at India as a long-term strategic player," Kumar told PTI.

Booking.com traditionally was started in Europe, and that's where it has grown very significantly over the years, he said.

"US is a