India’s MakeMyTrip Taps Into Blossoming Corporate Travel Market

India’s largest online travel company, MakeMyTrip, is entering the business-to-business (B2B) space with the launch of a new solution for corporate travel.

Reports released Monday (Aug. 28) said MakeMyTrip is rolling out MMT MyBusiness, a tool developed to help small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in India book business trips.

Co-founder and CEO Rajesh Magow noted in a recent interview with the Economic Times of India that the firm aims to reach out to existing MakeMyTrip users to encourage them to use the B2B solutions for their own corporate travel needs. He told the publication the MMT MyBusiness offering will incorporate a corporate wallet to promote efficient spending and reduce corporate card abuse.

According to Magow, the MyBusiness solution will also help business users remain compliant under new goods and services tax (GST) rules and streamline the process by which SMBs claim GST credits. Tax details can be passed automatically to suppliers like hoteliers, with taxes incorporated into eInvoices that are then uploaded and reconciled against corporates’ GST accounts.

Reports also noted India has responded to rising demand among small businesses for business travel solutions.

The nation’s second-largest travel operator, Yatra Online, recently acquired Air Travel Bureau, a corporate travel service provider, to strengthen its B2B services. According to Magow, for the time being, MakeMyTrip will not turn to mergers and acquisitions for growth, instead focusing on automating complex processes and digitizing its services for corporates.

In 2015, IT service provider Wipro inked a series of partnerships to launch its own corporate travel and expense management app in India. Wipro also partnered with Uber to streamline corporate use of the ridesharing app. Last year, Uber partnered with American Express to integrate Amex’s commercial card products into its mobile app, a collaboration that also extended into India.