Business or leisure trips, domestic or international tours, on the road for days or weeks—each form of travel requires assistance. Companies such as MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip and Yatra have simplified the search and moved this process online but many still seek solace in offline interaction. Goomo.com, the most recent entrant in the travel-tech business, was launched in March this year to offer customised travel booking services, online as well as offline for corporate and individual travel. “The customer should have the freedom to choose the channel she is comfortable with, depending on her requirement and our aim is to service that customer online or offline and give her a customised experience,” says Varun Gupta, CEO, Goomo. MakeMyTrip and Yatra have been pioneers in this segment, attracting investor interest in the sector as investors line up to tap the $30 billion travel-tech market in India that is expected to grow to $45-48 billion in the next 3-4 years. In one of the largest deals in the April-June quarter, Goomo raised $50 million from private equity firm Emerging India.
Emerging India had acquired Orbit Corporate and Leisure Tours in November 2015. “Requirement for investment will match the potential of the economy. I do not see a cutback in investment in this sector of the economy anytime soon,” said Gupta. Goomo had earlier been focused on corporate bookings but in the last 12-15 months, the company has directed its technology and capability towards building its consumer portal. “We connect with airline companies and hotels globally and show their content and best deals to the customer online. We are also building tech around package holidays and bookings,” Gupta said. The criteria for individual travellers and corporate travellers are different based on the allocated budget, needs of customers, complexity around approvals for corporate clients, etc. “How we build the platform for an individual customer is different from how we build it for our corporate clients,” explains Gupta. Gupta believes that the need for professional services in travel is increasing.
“There is a large market for people who want to deal with large established players and want customised solutions,” he says. The segment has a large number of online and offline players. Goomo will have to compete against established online travel agents such as Makemytrip, Yatra, Cleartrip and TripAdvisor, among others in the travel industry. Currently, the only source of revenue of the company is the commission its gets from holiday providers it has collaborated with. The commission ranges from 4-15% for the different products listed on its site. Till date, Goomo has invested over $5 million in its back-end technology and has drawn $25 million from the new $50 million fund it has raised. The company will be deploying the new fund towards technology, brand building in the Indian market, and customer acquisition. Gupta adds that Goomo is currently involved in certain innovations that will hit the market over the next few months. It will also be looking for selective partnerships and acquisition opportunities in the space.