MakeMyTrip's approach to redefining travel booking in the UAE

Online travel service provider MakeMyTrip is expanding its wings in both B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) segments. Last April, the company entered the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) B2B travel space with the launch of MyPartner, a platform for local travel agents.

How have its initiatives fared in this landscape?

“We have received positive feedback from the travel agent community in the UAE. In less than a year, we have more than 2,300 travel agents and 45% of partners have already transacted on the platform,” Saujanya Shrivastava, COO of MakeMyTrip, told YS Gulf.

In India, the service has currently onboarded 40,000 travel agents.

Another tool in MakeMyTrip’s kit is the MyBiz platform, which caters to corporate clients, automates travel booking, and offers cost-effective options, exclusive deals, express care tools, and policy-based bookings.

Entering the UAE Market

Recognising Dubai as an international hub with a diverse population, including a significant Indian diaspora and South Asian presence, presents an opportunity for MakeMyTrip to offer its services.

“UAE provides a very conducive business environment and the local requirements are clear. Given the demand for travel to destinations across the world, it was imperative to get price competitive across multiple airlines and hotels,” Shrivastava said.

MakeMyTrip saw an opportunity and ventured into the UAE B2C market in April 2020. 

The platform has over two million monthly active users on the B2C platform, with a Y-o-Y growth rate of more than 50%.

"The decision to enter the market was driven by several key factors, including the UAE's sizable travel market characterised by a mix of visiting friends and family (VFR) travel, business trips, and leisure travel," Shrivastava stated.

“Furthermore, the market had a notable offline presence ripe for disruption by an OTA offering superior technology and product offerings,” he added. 

Deep Kalra founded MakeMyTrip offers flights and hotel bookings on its B2C platform. 

“We are also working on solving under-served market needs and continually innovating their products and services,” Shrivastava added.

Localising presence 

MakeMyTrip is also leveraging technology to localise its services. For example, its MMTConnect solution uses machine learning to combine connections with multiple airlines to provide the lowest fares through virtual interlining. 

The platform also launched Arabic support for its Android and iOS apps to enable a localised product experience.

“With round-the-clock customer support available in both English and Arabic, we ensure customers receive assistance whenever they need it,” he said

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Future plans

To enhance its reach and offerings in the UAE, MakeMyTrip works with companies in the market, such as RTA, Etisalat Smiles, Zomato, Hala, and tourism boards in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, KSA, and Maldives, for joint promotions and customer acquisition. 

It has also forged alliances with banks and financial platforms  including Emirates NBD, ADCB, Emirates Islamic, Citi, American Express, and more, offering enticing deals to users and enhancing its reach and offerings in the region.

With a Dubai office housing its GCC business and marketing team, myPartner (B2B2C) team, and international hotel supply team, MakeMyTrip is poised for further growth. 

MakeMyTrip competes with players such as Cleartrip, Agoda, Expedia, Booking.com, Travelocity, among others. 

The company is also expanding its offline presence by opening retail stores across the country and aims to attract customers who prefer booking directly or in person, tapping into a segment still reliant on traditional offline methods for travel bookings.