Yatra Online (NASDAQ:YTRA) reported higher gross bookings and adjusted EBITDA for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, 2026, despite geopolitical disruptions that weighed on international travel and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, or MICE, activity.
Gross bookings increased 16.3% year over year to INR 21.0 billion, or approximately $222 million, while total transactions rose 11%. Gross margin increased 6.1% to INR 1.23 billion, and adjusted EBITDA rose 4.9% to INR 216 million, representing 17.6% of gross margin.
International disruption pressures MICE
Executive Chairman Dhruv Shringi said conflict in West Asia disrupted air connectivity, raised fares and lengthened flight routes, affecting international travel and MICE activity. He said industry inquiries for some international destinations fell approximately 10% to 15% during the peak disruption.
Because Yatra has a relatively higher mix of international travel and MICE business, the company experienced a disproportionate near-term impact, Shringi said. Gupta said MICE revenue was approximately INR 300 million lower than a year earlier, contributing about INR 30 million of pressure on gross margin. A shift from international to domestic group travel also increased competition and created an additional approximately INR 30 million gross-margin impact.
Gupta characterized the roughly INR 60 million year-over-year MICE gross-margin impact as temporary. He said the company’s MICE bookings in the first half of the second quarter were trending approximately 50% above first-quarter levels, while the second-quarter MICE pipeline had improved margins.
“We believe the Q1 impact was temporary, and we are seeing encouraging signs that MICE business is returning to a growth phase,” Gupta said.
Air and hotel performance
Yatra’s air business generated gross bookings of INR 16.58 billion, up about 18% from the prior-year quarter. Air passenger volume increased 4.8% to 126,000, a rate management said was nearly double broader industry growth. Air gross margin increased 8% to INR 699 million, though gross margin as a percentage of bookings declined to 4.2% from 4.6%.
The company said elevated fares, capacity constraints and softer demand pressured air margins. Gupta said Yatra remained focused on unit economics and the quality of growth in its air business.
Hotels and packages recorded gross bookings growth of 13% to INR 3.88 billion. Hotel room nights increased nearly 30% to 548,000, while segment gross margin rose 24% to INR 386 million. Segment margin improved to 9.95% from 9.05%.
Within the segment, standalone hotel gross bookings grew approximately 34%, revenue rose about 62%, and room nights increased around 30%, according to Gupta. He said the results supported the company’s strategy of expanding hotel supply and increasing the contribution from higher-margin hotel products.
Corporate customer additions and growth investments
Yatra added 53 corporate customers during the quarter, representing expected annual billable potential of INR 2.2 billion, or approximately $23 million, as accounts are onboarded and ramp up. The company said its corporate customer retention rate exceeds 97% and that it supports more than 1,300 large and mid-sized enterprise customers across India.
More than 30 of the newly added customers, representing approximately INR 800 million in annual billable potential, came through Travelpro, Yatra’s offering for small and medium-sized enterprises. Gupta said the company is continuing to invest in Travelpro’s personnel, platform and go-to-market capabilities.
The company is also expanding RECAP, its expense-management solution, which has added more than 20 customers since launch. In addition, Yatra has invested in making its corporate technology platform ready for international deployment through its partnership with Kanoo Travel in the Middle East.
Gupta said these initiatives have required building capacity before the related revenue scales, increasing the current cost base but potentially expanding the company’s future earnings capacity. Management said it expects operating leverage as corporate travel normalizes and its newer initiatives grow.
AI, market outlook and liquidity
Shringi said Yatra is embedding artificial intelligence into search, recommendations, conversational interfaces, service interactions and corporate policy-compliance tools. The company expects automation to reduce manual work, identify savings opportunities, improve expense reconciliation and lower its cost to serve.
Management said domestic travel remained resilient, citing approximately 2.3% year-over-year growth in Indian air passenger traffic during the period. It also pointed to rising disposable incomes, improving transportation infrastructure and continued online adoption as longer-term travel-market drivers.
Gupta said Yatra expects EBITDA margins to rebuild toward more than 20% as conditions normalize and growth investments scale, with potential to progress above 30% over time. Those expectations remain subject to an uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical environment.
As of June 30, Yatra had INR 2.16 billion, or approximately $22.8 million, in cash, cash equivalents and term deposits.
About Yatra Online (NASDAQ:YTRA)
Yatra Online, Inc operates as an online travel company in India and internationally. It operates in Air Ticketing, and Hotels and Packages, and Other Services segments. The company provides travel-related services, including domestic and international air ticketing, hotel bookings, homestays, holiday packages, bus ticketing, rail ticketing, cab bookings, and ancillary services for leisure and business travelers. It also offers various services, including exploring and searching comprises web and mobile platforms that enable customers to explore and search flights, hotels, holiday packages, buses, trains, and activities through its website, www.yatra.com.
