Nikhil KamathWhy A 25-Year-Old Should Build A Hotel, Not An App | MakeMyTrip x Taj | WTF is Travel?
Episode Details
EPISODE INFO
- Released
- September 9, 2026
- Duration
- 3h 21m
- Channel
- Nikhil Kamath
- Watch on YouTube
- ▶ Open ↗
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Access the full data and references used in this episode below. Please open this alongside the episode while watching. https://canva.link/c3kd2nq3k4f9ndy I put Rajesh Magow, the chartered accountant who co-founded MakeMyTrip on a team where almost nobody knew travel, and Puneet Chhatwal, the Delhi boy who spent twenty-eight years running hotels in Europe before coming home to pull IHCL out of a decade of losses, into one room to explain the business of Indian travel from scratch. What came out was far bigger than a lesson, from why boutique hotels are better built by outsiders and why booking direct still isn't cheaper, to why ChatGPT can't scrape its way into the travel funnel and where voice bookings are taking tier-three India, and why Puneet thinks the answer for a 25-year-old isn't another app but a small, clean hotel. And then the part I couldn't let go of, why only ten million foreigners visit a country with more than forty UNESCO sites, what went wrong in Goa and where the next thirty Goas should be, why tourism being a state subject is the real bottleneck, and the full playbook both of them would run to take India from ten million tourists to a hundred million. Timestamp: 00:00 Introduction 07:03 Getting to Know the Guests 14:30 How MakeMyTrip’s Hotel Partnerships Work 21:45 Booking Direct vs Travel Apps 28:26 Puneet Chhatwal’s Journey from Delhi to Europe 35:01 Building Villa Stays & Solo Travel Businesses 41:43 Will AI Change How We Book Travel? 48:40 Customer Data vs Personal Hospitality 55:43 Can Robots Replace Hotel Staff? 1:03:05 Bringing Small-Town India into Online Travel 1:09:52 Should Hotels Cut Out the Middleman? 1:16:37 India’s Mid-Range Hotel Opportunity 1:23:51 Marketing India & Fixing Tourism Taxes 1:30:46 Mass Tourism vs Luxury Tourism in Goa 1:38:26 Can Luxury Trains Attract Premium Tourists? 1:44:44 Civic Sense & the Tourist Experience 1:51:24 Making India’s Attractions Discoverable & Bookable 1:58:44 Alibaug’s Potential & the Homestay Business 2:05:56 Why Celebrations Are Driving Villa Bookings 2:13:42 What Travel Business Should a 25-Year-Old Start? 2:19:43 Handling Bad Experiences & Building Trust 2:27:16 Nandan Nilekani & the Shift to Hotel Branding 2:34:40 What It Takes to Run an Asset-Light Hotel Brand 2:41:13 The Wellness Hotel Opportunity 2:48:44 Building Travel Businesses for Gen Z 2:56:16 Travel Education & New Business Ideas 3:02:19 Unlocking Unexplored India 3:08:42 Building New Destinations & Event Tourism 3:15:38 Private Jet Economics & Closing Thoughts Rajesh Magow,Co-Founder & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip Limited Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajesh-magow-9278094/ Puneet Chhatwal,Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/puneet-chhatwal-aa1aa54/ Nikhil Kamath-Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline
SPEAKERS
Nikhil Kamath
hostCo-founder of Zerodha and investor; host of the 'WTF is with Nikhil Kamath' show.
Rajesh Magow
guestCo-founder and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip, leading one of India’s largest online travel companies.
Puneet Chhatwal
guestManaging Director & CEO of IHCL (Taj Hotels), leading the Tata Group’s hospitality business.
EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Nikhil Kamath, featuring Nikhil Kamath and Rajesh Magow, Why A 25-Year-Old Should Build A Hotel, Not An App | MakeMyTrip x Taj | WTF is Travel? explores why India’s next travel winners build rooms, experiences, and trust This episode brings together MakeMyTrip’s Rajesh Magow and IHCL (Taj) CEO Puneet Chhatwal, plus founders from Treebo, StayVista, Indiahikes, and Boketto, to map where India’s travel industry is headed and what a 25-year-old should build.
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