Tag Archives: Co-Founder and CEO – India

MakeMyTrip has launched its alternative accommodation platform – Rightstay. The application is an independent platform from MakeMyTrip App and is currently available on Android and web. It provides alternative stay options like villa, residential apartments, homestays and guest houses. RightStay enables customers to rent unique places that offer great, authentic experience at affordable prices. With RightStay, MakeMyTrip intends to disrupt the homestay and non-hotel stay options segment. Talking about the new business, Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and CEO-India, MakeMyTrip, “The alternate accommodations are going to be the next big thing and this segment has the potential to completely disrupt the online travel industry. We are in constant pursuit to provide excellence in the services and experience offered to the customers. Being the market leader, the onus of category creation is on us and Rightstay is a step in our measures towards the rapidly evolving accommodations segment in the country. We have deployed a dedicated team for Rightstay and we are committed to drive this business to great heights.” Commenting on the launch Deepak Tuli, Senior Vice President – Growth Business, MakeMyTrip said, “It is our constant endeavor to be the one stop destination for consumers’ travel needs. In search of authentic experiences, travellers are now looking for diverse accommodation options. With Rightstay, we want to be able to offer a ‘home away home’ experience to our customers. We hope to leverage the demand, traffic and brand advantage that we have and create a unique position for ourselves in the alternate accommodation category. We already have a head-start with more than 10,000 properties across 200 cities live on Rightstay.”

In an effort to tap into top technology talent in the silicon valley of the country, MakeMyTrip has inaugurated its technology center in Bengaluru. The new office is a milestone in MakeMyTrip’s 16-year journey in India and a true reflection of company’s vision of being reliable, efficient and at the forefront of technology. The company plans to recruit 300 people over a period of next 12 months. Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and CEO-India, MakeMyTrip said, “Bengaluru is the Silicon Valley of India and it makes perfect sense for the pioneer in online travel to be actively present in the city. Our presence in the city is in line with the company’s aggressive growth plans and an increased focus on using technology as an enabler to make travel buying experience easier.  Bringing together e-commerce, data and analytics under one roof at the new center will help us in using technology as an enabler to serve the customer better. The rapid smartphone adoption and the app eco-system has necessitated us to offer personalized solutions and we will be using the Bengaluru facility in app development and data analytics. We now have over 23 million downloads of our app till date with last 8 million downloads coming in 2016 itself and being in Bengaluru will help us grow rapidly and be agile, especially in the fast changing technology world.”

MakeMyTrip announced the launch of Instant Refunds, that allows immediate refund and notification to the customer about the same instantly after the booking is cancelled. The company has already started processing instant refunds on hotels and domestic flights and will be extending this to its other offerings shortly. On an average, it takes about three to four days to process refunds and till then customers keep speculating whether or not will they get their money back and whether it will be the correct amount or not. With MakeMyTrip’s new feature of Instant Refunds, as soon as the customer cancels his or her booking, the company processes the refund, and confirms the refund instantly. The customer is offered two refund options upon cancellation of the booking. For those who immediately need the refund amount they can opt to transfer the refund to their MakeMyTrip wallet, which will be processed and transferred instantly in the wallet for immediate use and for customers who are not looking at refunding the amount to their MakeMyTrip wallet, the refund will be processed instantly by the company and the amount will be reflected back in their bank accounts as per the bank’s policy. Speaking about the new feature, Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and CEO – India, MakeMyTrip said, “At MakeMyTrip we have always focused on enhancing the overall customer experience and therefore have constantly developed customer friendly innovations relevant to their travel needs. Refund processing is an area of concern that needs an overhaul in all segments, especially eCommerce platforms. With the new feature of Instant Refunds, we are taking the lead in eliminating a key pain point for customers transacting online. We believe that this initiative …