Tag Archives: Co-founder

Venya Traveltech India has launched the beta version of the b2b travel platform Innowayt after eight months of developing its product and building its team. The portal is a b2b travel marketplace enabling DMCs and travel suppliers across the globe to transact with travel agents and tour operators. Narayan Mallapur, CEO & Co-Founder, Venya Traveltech, says, “We started Innowayt with a vision of fixing the current state of broken b2b travel transactions globally. To rethink travel technology and make it invisible but truly assistive, we allow the travel trade to do what they love – take care of their clients.” Vikas Khanduri, Co-Founder, adds, “Travel technology has touched all aspects of travel space – flights, buses, trains, transfers. What remains are tours and activities and as per Phocuswright Research, globally the tours and activities business is 80 per cent offline and growing at the rate of nine per cent p a with a market size of US$ 118 billion. That’s a big opportunity which we want to tap.” Mallapur adds that they did a survey with industry experts, suppliers and agents from various destinations in August and September 2017, and started developing the platform from October end with a dedicated tech team of seven. They registered the entity in April 2018. “We have already begun on-boarding suppliers and DMCs from various countries from May 28 under beta. As on today, we have registered 55+ suppliers and on-boarded 33 from these 55. We are looking at 110 countries for suppliers. We plan to onboard agents from end of July and will initially target India, US and European markets. At the moment, we are bootstrapped,” he says.

Treebo has announced its acquisition of Events High, a marketplace for experiential events and activities for an undisclosed amount. Events High’s acquisition is strategically aligned with Treebo’s mission to become India’s most loved travel network by delivering delightful experiences to every traveller. Events High offers customers information on, and ability to book activities like treks and hikes, cooking classes, dance classes, concerts, heritage walks, nightlife, etc. in eight cities – Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Kolkata and Goa. The move will effectively enable Treebo to enter the thriving events and activities segment in India. Post the acquisition, Treebo has absorbed the entire Events High team. Commenting on the acquisition, Sidharth Gupta, Co-founder, Treebo said, “We are on a mission to offer delightful experiences to travellers and build the most loved travel network by offering curated local events and activities to our customers through Events High. Experiencing these local activities is a core part of people’s travel plans. More so now than ever before, people are keen to buy ‘experiences’ not ‘things’.” Nikesh Garera, Co-founder and CEO, Events High said, “Customers value engagement and unique experiences, and Events High has always been committed to curate these experiences and make them discoverable. Stay is an integral part of the huge number of travellers who attend such experiences, and with Treebo we share the vision to offer delightful experiences to such travellers.”

With a vision to strengthen its pan-India service network, Travkart has signed on its first franchise in Mumbai. The move is in line with Travkart’s endeavour to tap the immense potential that Mumbai offers. What also makes the launch of Travkart’s franchisee programme in Mumbai an interesting development is the end-to-end business support that it offers to partner travel agencies. As part of the programme, the company will provide assistance to the associated travel agency to help it deliver better end-customer services. It provides comprehensive training spearheaded by a qualified in-house franchise manager, in addition to extensive operational assistance, to ensure seamless operations. The platform plans to undertake similar expansion in cities such as Chennai, Chandigarh and Nagpur. Manheer Singh Sethi, Co-founder, Travkart commented, “As India’s business hub, Mumbai is one of the most promising travel markets in the country. There exists a growing demand for travel packages within the city, which is why we are delighted to have signed our first franchisee here. While we received a large number of requests, we closed a franchising agreement with The Kangaroo Travels based on its commitment to the brand’s long-term growth and the end-customer’s satisfaction. Our aim is to expand our presence in all major cities in India and build 100 Travkart franchisees by 2020.”  

AccorHotels has announced its acquisition of ResDiary, a platform for table reservation at restaurants. ResDiary provides venues with a high-end table management solution, using technology that optimises their food and beverage revenues and helps control operational costs. Its yield and channel management tools help restaurateurs maximise revenues, while limiting booking fees by controlling availability displayed on third-party channels. Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO, AccorHotels, said, “I am delighted to see ResDiary join the range of services of the Group. Our ambition is to support ResDiary in its global expansion, consolidating its scale, and benefitting from its expertise to provide multiple attractive offers to our guests. This acquisition completes recent investments of AccorHotels in the Food & Beverage industry. It fully supports the Group’s ambition to increase touchpoints with a fast-growing customer base.” Mike Conyers, Co-founder and CEO, ResDiary said, “We have had a very successful relationship with AccorHotels in Asia Pacific, and the ResDiary team is thrilled to join the Group. We are looking forward to expanding our service on a more global level with AccorHotels.”

With a strong development pipeline and industry’s and developers’ confidence in its ability to deliver profitable partnership, Clarks Inn Group of Hotels has now set sight to reach the magical figure of 100 hotel properties by the end of 2018. Last year, the group added 13 new hotel and resort properties, including eight operational. Three of the new operational properties have come up in Karnataka at Bagalkot, Mysore and Shimoga. Two properties have opened doors in Madhya Pradesh that include Ujjain and Gwalior. Clarks Inn has also entered the state of Jammu & Kashmir with a property in Srinagar. Besides, the company has also established presence in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and has added a second property in Patna in Bihar. Commenting on the strong growth for the company last year, S N Srivastava, President & Co-founder, Clarks Inn Group of Hotels, said, “We have seen another year of stellar performance and growth in 2017 with as many 13 new properties signed up and eight new properties that have joined operation. Our total portfolio today stands at 84 hotel properties, including 43 in operation, spread over 18 states in India and one in Nepal.”    

Treebo Hotels has launched its premium brand offering ‘Treebo Select,’ designed to deliver a premium experience to its guests by providing superior amenities and services in the price range of INR 2500-INR 5000. Treebo Select properties are currently present in Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru and will soon be launched pan- India in the next few months. Treebo’s entry into the premium budget segment aims to cater to needs of the traveller looking for more than the ‘basic’ standard experience. Sidharth Gupta, Co-founder, Treebo Hotels said, “After hosting guests for close to three years in over 60 cities, we now feel that we are ready to cater to the needs of every traveller from a value conscious guest to the one looking for a more premium experience. Treebo Select is an extension of our product to offer the experience, hospitality and services of a four-star. We already have 10 properties under the Select brand, some have been already launched and the rest will go live soon.” Some key features that differentiate Treebo Select from the brand’s core offering are plush rooms, prime location, guaranteed large spread complimentary buffet breakfast, 24×7 room service, guest laundry service, mini fridge etc. in addition to Treebo’s standard offerings like Wi-Fi, branded toiletries, TV with DTH or cable connection and air conditioning.

Travkart, a unit specialising in fixed departure and themed holidays becomes the preferred sales agent (PSA) for Madame Tussauds Delhi. The attraction opened to the public on December 1, 2017.  Visitors can buy tickets on Travkart website and mobile app. Manheer Singh Sethi, Co-founder, Travkart, said, “We are extremely delighted to be the first online travel platform to have been selected as a PSA by a globally renowned brand like Madame Tussauds for the launch of its first-ever attraction in the country. Our platform offers customers a wide selection of activities and must-see places they can book, and with the addition of Madame Tussauds, it’s a great chance for visitors as well locals to enjoy this new destination in the city.” The announcement marks a significant milestone for Travkart and allows the platform to build on its robust value proposition by expanding the ambit of its offerings.

Treebo Hotels has announced its association with TripAdvisor, which will open up a global audience of 390 million monthly users looking to make hotel reservations for budget hotel chain. Commenting on the partnership, Sidharth Gupta, Co-founder, Treebo Hotels, said, “TripAdvisor is one of the key touch points for us to connect with our users. These users have already been posting and reading reviews of Treebo’s top-rated properties on TripAdvisor. Now they’ll also see be able to see the best available prices and book hotels on TripAdvisor itself. We are expecting TripAdvisor to contribute close to 5 per cent of monthly bookings in the next three months, becoming a key distribution channel for us.” This partnership will allow TripAdvisor users search and book – via meta – quality hotel experiences across over 50 Indian cities. Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India, commented, “TripAdvisor’s aim is to help the Indian traveller save time and effort when planning their travel with tools that make it easy to find the best hotel offering that suits their needs wherever they are going. With Treebo on board, both local and international travellers will be able to find good quality budget accommodation in India they know they will have a good experience at.”

Travkart, the travel service portal from Holidays by Sahibji, has collaborated with Planet Abled to offer specially designed itineraries for travellers with disabilities. The first travel brand to enter such a collaboration, Travkart will introduce an ‘Accessible Travel’ tab on its website which can be used by the travellers with disabilities to browse and book curated holiday packages. Manheer Singh Sethi, Co-founder, Travkart.com, said, “Awareness about special travel needs is highly inadequate in India and people with disabilities find it difficult to be accepted as a part of the society. We are enthusiastic about syncing our synergies with such a unique organisation as Planet Abled and bring about a big social change in the travel industry. This collaboration will make Travkart the first travel brand to introduce a dedicated section offering accessible and curated travel packages for disabled individuals, and will set a new service benchmark in the Indian travel and tourism industry.” Planet Abled is a first-of-its-kind travel company that provides inclusive and accessible travel solutions and leisure excursions for people with disabilities modified to suit their special needs. Planet Abled works with the concept of “Universal Design”, focusing on giving people with different disabilities and non-disabled, a platform to come together, so as to create an inclusive group for a unique human interaction. The underlying belief being, our Planet is our common inheritance and ‘Everything Is For Everyone’. It organizes scheduled group tours, customized tours, romantic tours and local city day tours where persons with disabilities can travel alone, with groups or with friends and family. Neha Arora, Founder, Planet Abled, commented, “Travelling to new locations always brings a sense of apprehension for people with disabilities as well …

Travelport and Indian hotel chain Treebo Hotels have announced a partnership, the inaugural GDS deal for the hotel chain. Headquartered in Bangalore, Treebo Hotels operate across over 34 Indian cities. Under the debut agreement, Treebo Hotels will join over 650,000 unique hotel properties available through Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform and its distributor in India, ITQ. Enabling Indian and International corporate travelers and travel agencies in over 180 countries, to have real-time access to the chain’s full property inventory. Travelport-connected agencies across the globe will now be able to take advantage of Travelport Smartpoint to search, view and make booking decisions based on travel choice information beyond just rate and availability. Sidharth Gupta, Co-founder, Treebo, said, “We are delighted for striking our inaugural GDS partnership with Travelport and its recognized distributor in India, ITQ. We are confident that this collaboration will empower Travelport-connected agents to choose quality accommodation from across Treebo properties in India during their business visits across major cities and will significantly support our business expand its presence across the globe.” Niklas Andreen, Vice President and Managing Director, Global Hospitality Commerce, Travelport, commented: “We are excited to partner with Treebo Hotels, one of India’s key hotel suppliers and our collaboration with Treebo Hotels will help further establish their position within India’s budget accommodation space. Their wide variety of destinations, accommodation types and price ranges greatly enriches Travelport’s unrivalled choice of global travel content; providing agents and partner companies with countless opportunities to check availability of inventory and make bookings.”