MakeMyTrip, an Indian online travel company, has announced its intention to expand its franchise business in the top 100+ cities of India. The company started 2023 with 146 active franchisees and aims to grow by over 50%, to reach 220 by the end of the calendar year. The franchise network expansion is part of its broader strategy to serve customers in the top 100+ cities of India, and the franchise network will help serve those customers who may be more comfortable talking to someone they trust. MakeMyTrip aims to build a hyper-local marketing connection by leveraging its franchisee partners to build travel communities in smaller cities.
MakeMyTrip Holidays is working on an omnichannel strategy to increase its penetration in the holiday packages market. At one level, MakeMyTrip is expanding the number of franchises in the country. At the same time, the platform recently announced the launch of ‘Dynamic Itineraries’ that allow travelers to customize and buy holiday packages in real-time online. MakeMyTrip has also increased the strength of the women-only team of holiday experts, who manage all leads requiring assistance, to over one thousand.
The company offers tailor-made holiday packages for destinations from all over India, including popular ones such as Andaman, Kerala, Rajasthan, Kashmir, Ladakh, and Uttarakhand. In the international market, MakeMyTrip offers options for leading international destinations, including and not limited to Australia, Bhutan, Dubai, Europe, Greece, Indonesia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Russia, Thailand, and the United States of America. The 5000-strong holiday packages of MakeMyTrip offer a solution for every traveler. The dynamic or customized tour and travel packages allow consumers to create and design their holiday, while the fixed departure holiday packages have a pre-designed itinerary.
MakeMyTrip has invested in technology as well as training to ensure that the service remains consistent across all franchisees. The company has built a proprietary tool, ‘MMTOne,’ which helps the seller to create an itinerary basis for any query within seven minutes. In addition, the company has developed an e-learning management system, ‘ILearn,’ with a customized content repository to provide unlimited access to the sales team of franchisees for on-platform certifications. The tools help the company track the progress and performance of franchisee teams.
India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, and the government plans to add another 80 airports over the next three years, taking the number of airports in the country to 220 by 2025. The focus on modernizing the nation’s aviation market in Tier 2 and beyond cities will also mean an increased contribution from such cities to the overall business mix. MakeMyTrip sees this as an opportunity area and has initiated a multi-pronged strategy to penetrate deeper nationwide.