Yatra Aims To Ace MICE Business Post Globe Travels' Acquisition

Yatra Online Ltd. is targeting to become a market leader in the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions business following its acquisition of Globe Travels, according to the company’s Chief Executive Officer Dhruv Shringi.

Yatra Online, on Sept. 3, had announced the acquisition of a 100% stake in Globe All India Services Ltd. from Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd., in a cash deal worth Rs 128 crore.

The acquisition, expected to be completed this quarter, will add 350 corporate clients to Yatra’s existing clientele. 

“The acquisition is going to be fairly synergistic because Globe has two main businesses—one is business travel and the other is MICE," Shringi told NDTV Profit, adding, "MICE is a highly profitable segment and is growing in double digits.”

“With that backdrop, the combination of Globe Travels along with Yatra’s own business travel segment will create a very strong market leader in the country when it comes to business travel and MICE,” he added.

Shringi noted that while Yatra’s business has historically been more focused on the northern and western parts of India, the acquisition will also allow the company to expand its presence into the eastern market.

“Globe (Travels) also has a good footprint in the southern part of India. So, that’s another market that we will use the Globe platform for, to grow aggressively,” he added.

Yatra also plans to add more products and services to its portfolio, specifically in the MICE segment. "We have already incubated MICE on our own but the combination of Globe along with our organic efforts will make us one of the market leaders in this category," Shringi added. 

The Yatra CEO said that with Yatra's technological capabilities and the company's existing customer base, Globe Travels will grow somewhere in the 15–20% range in the years to come.