Skift Take
Business travel in India is on a rise. It is the ninth-largest market globally for business travel expenditure. Yatra's agreement with Cipla is the latest development as online travel agencies in India work to profit from this segment.
The Skift India Newsletter is your go-to platform for all news related to travel, tourism, airlines, and hospitality in India.
Online travel agency Yatra has signed an agreement to provide travel service to Indian pharmaceutical giant Cipla – in line with the company's strategy to focus efforts on the "more profitable" corporate business."
Yatra's CEO and co-founder Dhruv Shringi talked about the company's focus on corporate customers during an earnings call this spring.
"During the fiscal year of 2024, we signed 83 new corporate customers, which translates into annual billing potential of INR 5.4 billion ($64.7 million). In the March quarter alone, we signed 25 new corporate clients," he said.
For this year, Yatra is focusing on growing its hotels business, both for customers and corporate clients. The company said it has also hired a team to scale hotels in the corporate travel segment.
Earlier this year, Yatra.com appointed Gaurav Luthra as Chief Business Officer – New Business Development. Luthra in his earlier role had been the managing director of corporate travel platform FCM Travel. At the time of his appointment, the company had said, “He (Luthra) will lend his strategic leadership to drive the company’s corporate travel proposition focused on mid-market customers.”
The company has also launched an AI-powered expense management solution along with a new guesthouse booking platform for its