MakeMyTrip, Ibibo check into one office, work on synergies

Intercity cab travel, alternative accommodation and online bus booking to be main areas of synergy

MakeMyTrip and Ibibo, the two leading online travel companies which merged last October, have started exploiting synergies. The two Gurgaon-headquartered companies are moving to a new common office in the suburb outside the capital in one of their many attempts to enhance efficiencies.

The two travel majors have also started drawing synergies in areas of alternate accommodation, bus ticket booking and intercity cab transportation. “The first area where we have started drawing synergy is the alternate accommodation space. We will be consuming the supply coming from MakeMyTrip’s Rightstay and offer it on the Goibibo platform,” said Ashish Kashyap, founder and group CEO of Ibibo. Rightstay was launched by MakeMyTrip last year and it has a listing of about 12,500 properties, including guest houses, homestays, apartments, cottages and so on.

Kashyap said that MakeMyTrip has also started using the bus inventory from redBus, which has sold over 60 million bus tickets till date and is the largest online bus ticketing platform in the country. Promoted by Ibibo, redBus operates on more than 70,000 routes and works with 2,300 bus operators. Ibibo’s Ryde, an intercity car sharing platform launched last year, will also be integrated with the MakeMyTrip platform. The duo can together develop these verticals and offer it to their customers to become a one-stop shop for travel needs.

The companies have decided to retain MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus as independent entities. “We will continue to develop these brands along their independent focus areas. Other than the areas where we have started drawing synergies, there will be more synergistic projects that we (MakeMyTrip and Ibibo) will do,” Kashyap said. The two companies have talked about jointly developing the outbound travel and holiday packages markets. Working together, MakeMyTrip and Ibibo will also be in a better position to bargain for higher margins with airlines and hotels. This will also allow them to rationalise the discounts, especially on hotels.    

While the two entities move to a common corporate office, Kashyap said that there is no plan to downsize the workforce. “We are really focused on ramping some of the new businesses, such as alternate travel. We want to leverage the existing manpower and use the best people to grow the businesses,” he said. 

The online travel market in the country has been rapidly expanding on the back of a rise in the number of internet and smartphone users. However, online booking is yet to reach a large percentage of the population, especially in smaller cities and towns. Therefore, global investors are pumping in millions into Indian travel companies. In January 2016, MakeMyTrip raised $180 million from Chinese travel major Ctrip to grow its hotel business. A month later, Ibibo secured an investment of $250 million from Naspers, the South African internet and media company.