New Delhi: In an effort to increase the reach of its travel related services Yatra.com has tied up with Sify a leading online portal in India. According to this agreement Sify outlets including Sify Broadband cybercafés will offer the travel portal's services with facilities of integrated cash payment systems.

Services like domestic airline ticket booking, hotel reservations and travel packages can be purchased right from the Sify outlets. This tie-up will help Yatra.com extend its services to 'offline' areas with the help of Sify's network. Reaching out to mass consumers, smaller cities and non-metro areas will now be easier for Yatra.com.

Though e-commerce is growing rapidly in India, there is a large untapped market of consumers, who do not have credit cards or are hesitant in making payments over the internet. Yatra.com can now tap into this market by over-the-counter payment capabilities. Sify has a vast network of 7,000 retail outlets spread over 200 cities.

Off late, online travel portals have begun forging strategic tie-ups with credit card companies to offer discounts and reward programs for purchases done using them. The largest online travel marketplace MakeMyTrip.com has partnered with ABN AMRO Bank to launch a co-branded credit card called GO! Yatra, has also tied up with Barclays launched a Yatra Barclaycard. Kingfisher Airlines and Airtel have tied up with the global credit card giant American Express to launch the `American Express Kingfisher First Credit Card`.

This step by Yatra.com has been in a different direction altogether. By extending the market to the far flung cities through Sify's network, it seems like Yatra is taking the competition to entirely a different dimension.