Indian online travel agency EaseMyTrip has launched its latest offering for corporate travel — EMT Desk. The company calls it an “all-in-one platform” for corporate travel needs as it includes a dedicated travel manager for each corporate client to provide planning and budget analysis.
Apart from this, EaseMyTrip highlighted that the platform also allows expense tracking, report generation, and travel policy management. In a statement, the OTA said that it is also offering employee benefits including exclusive discounts on flights, premium hotel accommodations, and a centralized booking system.
Indian OTAs and Corporate Travel: EaseMyTrip launched its corporate travel business division last year. With the launch of this platform, the travel company could look to scale this segment further, much like other Indian OTAs.
Last month, MakeMyTrip acquired expense management platform Happay from Indian fintech company CRED. The deal would allow MakeMyTrip to deepen its foothold in the expanding corporate travel market, Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia had reported. MakeMyTrip’s corporate offerings, myBiz and Quest2Travel, have demonstrated strong growth in recent years.
“The acquisition of Happay’s brand and expense management platform is a natural next step in our strategy to lead this space,” said Rajesh Magow, co-founder and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip.
Prior to MakeMyTrip, competitor Yatra acquired corporate travel services provider Globe Travels in September to expand its corporate customer base in India and strengthen its market position. In a recent earnings call, CEO Dhruv Shringi said that it was continuing to face challenges in the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment, but was witnessing a strong momentum in its corporate travel business. Corporate travel accounted for 65% of its hotel business.
India’s corporate travel spending is expected to reach $38 billion this year, according to projections by the Global Business Travel Association. It further expects India to make full recovery to pre-2019 spending levels by 2025.
The Leela Forays Into Hyderabad
The Leela has announced the opening of its property in Hyderabad. The 156-key The Leela Hyderabad marks the company’s entry into the city.
This comes a few months after Schloss Bangalore, the luxury hospitality group behind India’s The Leela Palaces, filed for a massive $599 million (INR 50 billion) IPO — the largest ever in the Indian hospitality industry. Through the IPO, the company aims to capitalize on the growing demand for high-end accommodations in India while also paying down debt.
The Leela has 12 operating hotels in 10 Indian cities. In its Draft Red Herring Prospectus, the company revealed plans to add eight more hotels with 833 keys by 2028, including ventures into new segments, such as wildlife and heritage tourism.
Ixigo Onboards Cricketer Rohit Sharma as Brand Ambassador
Online travel company Ixigo has onboarded Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma as the brand ambassador for its trains app. Under the partnership, Ixigo Trains has released a new ad featuring the cricketer.
In the ad, the cricketer showcases different features of the OTA for trains, including real-time updates on train routes, live running status, ticket availability, and ticket confirmation chances. The ad aims to bank on Sharma’s popularity to position Ixigo among cricket fans in the country.
Earlier this year, Cleartrip had signed former captain of the Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as its brand ambassador. Dhoni is famously known as “Captain Cool” and Cleartrip planned to capitalize on his widespread appeal across generations and regions.
Forest By The Hills Partners with SaffronStays
Farmhouse community Forest By The Hills has partnered with vacation home brand SaffronStays. Forest By The Hills is a farmhouse community in Karjat, Maharashtra and it offers agricultural land parcels and assists with building farmhouses for nature lovers. SaffronStays, on the other hand, manages, brands, and markets luxury vacation home rentals.
As part of the partnership, SaffronStays said it would offer Forest By The Hills’ nature experiences to a niche audience, including forest lovers, bird gazers, and eco-conscious travelers.
The Forest By The Hills farmhouses will be marketed as weekend retreats and as immersive experiences, SaffronStays said in a release.
Akasa Air Boosts Abu Dhabi Connectivity
Budget airline Akasa Air has announced the commencement of daily direct flights to Abu Dhabi from Ahmedabad and Bengaluru starting March next year. With this, Akasa will fly to Abu Dhabi from three Indian cities after it commenced flights from Mumbai in July this year.
The airline, which commenced operations in August 2022, has been rapidly expanding its network domestically as well as internationally. It started its international operations this year and has expanded to five destinations, all of which are in the Middle East — Doha, Jeddah, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Kuwait City.
In an earlier interview, co-founder and chief commercial officer Praveen Iyer told Skift that it was focusing on international markets that were constrained for capacity, especially the Middle East. Iyer said that the traffic flows between India and the Middle East will only grow with each passing year: “No wonder airlines have been requesting for bilaterals to be expanded,” he said.
He had also shared that the airline would select routes based on aircraft capabilities, capacity constraints, bilateral availability, and network connectivity. It is looking at potential routes across the Gulf, Southeast Asia, Far East, points of East Africa, based on its current fleet capabilities.
Sterling Launches Upscale Boutique Resort in Wayanad
Sterling Holiday Resorts has launched Sterling Lontano Waterfront in Kerala’s Wayanad. The boutique resort is Sterling’s third property in Wayanad, and ninth in the southern state of Kerala.
Sterling currently has 55 properties in India, totaling 3,000 keys. In 2023, the company had announced plans to add a new hotel to its portfolio every month between April and September to accelerate its growth, expecting to increase the number of properties to 55 by the end of 2024. Since April 30 last year, Sterling has added 15 properties to its portfolio.
