Pandemic is the biggest challenge that the world’s tourism industry has ever seen. It affects every aspect of tourism, including travel, accommodations, and convention centers. However, the Covid-19 cases have slowed down, and things are gradually opening up; the sector is looking forward to brighter times.
The travel industry’s contribution to the global economy reached approximately $8.6 trillion in this year, which is only around 6.4% short of its pre-pandemic years, new research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) stated.
Let’s have a look at the biggest travel and tourism acquisition that occurred recently based on Crunchbase.
#1 Air India Acquired by Tata Sons – January 28, 2022
Photo by: Financial Express
On January 28, 2022, Air India was officially handed over to the Tata Group. TATA acquired Air India for Rs 18000 crores ($2.4 billion). The deal was for Air India and its low-cost carrier Air India Express.
History of Air India
The airline was started in the year 1932 by industrialist JRD Tata; back then, India was still under British rule, and JRD Tata was India’s first commercial pilot. The airline was made commercial in 1940. In 1953 Government of India acquired Air India, and in 2007 it merged with Indian Airlines.
Source: WION
#2 Global Interpark Acquired by Yanolja – October 14, 2021
Photo by: Pulse News Korea
South Korea’s largest travel tech startup Yanolja has announced that it will acquire the e-commerce businesses of Interpark to target the global tourism market. Yanolja signed an agreement to acquire a 70 per cent stake in Interpark’s e-commerce businesses such as travel, concerts, shopping, and books for $250,000,000.
Source: Travel Trade
#3 DeliverEat.my Acquired by Teleport – August 18, 2021
Photo by: Digital News Asia
AirAsia’s digital logistics venture Teleport has signed an agreement to acquire 100 per cent equity interest in local online food delivery platform Delivereat for US$9.8 million to strengthen its delivery service in the country.
Source: The Star
#4 Spree Hospitality Acquired by EaseMyTrip.com – November 18, 2021
Photo by: Business World
Online travel platform EaseMyTrip announced on Thursday that it had acquired hospitality management company Spree Hospitality. This is EaseMyTrip’s second acquisition. The company said Spree Hospitality would add a new revenue vertical for the company and enable it to scale up its hotel and holidays portfolio.
Source: The Economic Times
#5 Cleartrip Acquired by Wego – February 21, 2022
Photo by: Web In Travel
Cleartrip is an Indian internet travel company headquartered in Bangalore, India. It has operations in India, UAE, Saudi Arabia as well as Egypt. Wego, the leading online travel marketplace, acquired Cleartrip’s Middle East business. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
#6 Yolobus Acquired by EaseMyTrip.com – December 16, 2021
Photo by: Zee News
EaseMyTrip acquired a premium intercity mobility platform, Yolobus. EaseMyTrip acquired Yolobus to expand its non air business. The company has not disclosed the total transaction value of the deal. EaseMyTrip offers a comprehensive range of travel-related products catering to the need of passengers domestically and travelling to and from international destinations. Yolobus aims to offer a comfortable, on time, and safe ride experience in the intercity transportation network; it runs on a mobility template, taking care of the business’s operational side, including scheduling of buses, ticketing, and customer service.
Conclusion
The travel companies are constantly coming up with new and revolutionary concepts to better the travel industry. 2021 was when the travel industry started recovering, and it will be growing in size even more in 2022.
