Independent hoteliers fear a big squeeze in MakeMyTrip-OYO deal

A group of independent hotel owners who have their properties listed on MakeMyTrip, India’s largest online travel operator, met with executives of the Nasdaq-listed company last month, raising concerns about its commercial agreement with hospitality company OYO.

Tens of hoteliers, who are also members of Delhi Hotels and Restaurants Owners Association, met MakeMyTrip (MMT) officials individually and sought assurances that its arrangement with SoftBank-backed OYO would not affect bookings and revenues independent hotels earned from the MMT and Goibibo platforms.

“They have given us verbal assurances that there will be no disruptions and OYO will not favor over independent hotels,” said Sandeep Khandelwal, president of the association that claims to represent about 400-500 small and mid-sized budget hotel establishments.

“MakeMyTrip has over 40,000 hotels listed on its platform, a significant portion of which are small independent establishments. The arrangement with OYO should not affect us,” said Khandelwal who owns Hotel Shri Nanak Continental in Delhi.

A second independent hotel owner who has met with MMT executives said that since the announcement of the MakeMyTrip and OYO agreement, ratings and reviews of the latter’s properties had improved substantially on the online travel platform.

“It is of concern to us, especially when OYO room rates are lower than ours, due to their deep pockets, and are then further helped by top ratings,” he told ET, requesting anonymity because his property continues to be listed on MMT platforms.

A MakeMyTrip spokesperson, however, said the company had not negotiated with any association but has been in touch with its partner hotels as part of its regular business outreach.

“As part of our regular business, we have frequent direct meetings with our hotel partners. We have had no meeting with any such association, nor have we been approached by one,” the spokesperson said in an email response to ET.

OYO did not respond to ET’s queries as of press time on Thursday.

The development comes a little less than four months after MakeMyTrip and OYO rekindled their partnership.

MakeMyTrip has begun listing Ritesh Agarwal-promoted OYO Rooms’ properties across its eponymous platform, as well as Goibibo, the online travel firm it acquired in 2016.

As part of a commercial agreement between the two, MakeMyTrip has also delisted all the properties of other budget-focused online hotel companies such as SAIF Partners-backed Treebo Hotels and Accel India-backed FabHotels from its two primary platforms. The hotel owners who met MMT executives also raised concern over the commissions the aggregator charged them.

Source:-https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/sme-sector/independent-hoteliers-fear-a-big-squeeze-in-makemytrip-oyo-deal/articleshow/64502150.cms

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