Online travel tech platform EaseMyTrip on Tuesday said it has acquired a 55 per cent majority stake in cheQin for Rs 3 crore. cheQin is a real-time marketplace, which allows travelers to bargain with hoteliers without any effort.
The deal will help in strengthening EaseMyTrip’s hotel channel in terms of technology, adaptability, personalisation, and the acceptance of bulk booking and long stay requests, the company said in a statement. With this acquisition, EaseMyTrip is in a great position to give its customers a wide range of innovative hotel booking options at the most competitive prices. Customers can gain from making hotel reservations for large groups, extended stays, and last-minute reservations. CheQin gains access to the extensive network of EaseMyTrip’s 45,000+ travel agents and 11+ million customers through this acquisition.
“EaseMyTrip is focusing on the growth of its non-air segments. This acquisition is a step towards revolutionizing the hotel business altogether. Through cheQin, which is a unique app in the hotels industry, we will diversify our hotel booking experience through technology support,” EaseMyTrip CEO and Co-Founder Nishant Pitti said.
Venu G Somineni, Founder, CheQin, said, “EaseMyTrip and cheQin would have a strong synergy. Everyone enjoys bargaining over anything. Booking a hotel is no different. The robust bargaining algorithm of cheQin would draw in a tonne of customers in no time. We really believe that cheQin can work miracles for last-minute, bulk, long-term, and short-term bookings. We expect to strengthen the market in the years to come, thanks to our partnership with EaseMyTrip.’’
Over 60,000 top-rated properties, including 3/4/5 star hotels, private stays, holiday rentals, beach resorts, and inexpensive rooms, have just joined cheQin. These properties are easily accessible to travelers via the web and applications for Android and iOS. More than 5,000 hotels in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the UAE have recently inked agreements with cheQin and created relationships with them.
This week, EaseMyTrip also announced the launch of its franchise business through which it aims to provide a retail store experience to its customers.
With EaseMyTrip Franchise, the company is tapping a new set of offline customers to expand its reach. The business model will allow customers to have an in-store retail experience, the company said in a statement.
