Page 19 - Express Travel World

IN THE NEWS

ThinkStrawberries to represent

Visit Orlando

ETW Staff to specifically provide the India
Mumbai and Middle East travel indus-
try with more personalised
Think Strawberries, service and education on the
India's market leading travel Theme Park Capital of the
representation company, has World.”
been appointed as the sales, MunnMunn Marwah, COO,
media, marketing and PR Rep- Think Strawberries (TS) ex-
resentative in India and UAE plained, “Since its inception,
for Visit Orlando, the official Think Strawberries has
tourism association for Or- grown by leaps and bounds.
lando, Florida. We have been able to design
Home to seven of the and execute multi-level mar-
world's top theme parks, Or- keting and PR activities on be-
lando - Theme Park Capital of half of our clients. Their
the World is a mix of experi- global marketing, sales and
ences that create cherished PR initiatives have been con-
memories for visitors, includ- currently implemented in our
ing theme parks from Disney, markets and their vision
Universal and SeaWorld, an ar- shines through, but with all
ray of world-class water parks, the local twists intact. With
entertainment venues, an outbound tourism on the up-
award-winning food scene, swing, the Indian and UAE
shopping, sports and nightlife. market will be a lucrative
And, with 450 hotels, Orlando source market for Visit Or-
offers lodging options from ex- lando. Our plans are to grow
pansive resorts to uniquely the businesses for Visit Or-
themed hotels. lando, while sustaining and
Elaine Blazys, vice presi- for Visit Orlando says,“Orlando with Indian travellers and also Strawberries will be an exten- enhancing their numbers
dent of Travel Industry Sales has seen a rise in popularity from the Middle East. Think sion of the Orlando-based team from both India and UAE.”

Goomo strengthens Omni channel tech offering

byacquiring WagonBee

ETW Staff vehicles ranging from hatch- Commenting on the an- above this, the acquisition further the similarities in our under-
Mumbai backs and sedans to luxury nouncement,Varun Gupta, chief reiterates our constant endeav- standing of this fragmented mar-
coaches and buses, provided by executive officer, Goomo, said, our to build our overall tech com- ket. We share a common vision of
In a move that is expected to sig- 350+ verified vendors. “Multi-day hiring of cars or larger petencies and develop the best how this space can be organized
nificantly expand its product WagonBee is present in over vehicles is often done through the technology-driven travel plat- better via apt solutions for our
portfolio, Goomo, India’s leading 40 cities across India with nearly phone by travel agents and corpo- form in the country.” partner vendors as well as cus-
Omni-channel travel tech com- 8,000 itineraries and connec- rates, who have to spend a lot of Navneet Misra, co-founder, tomized offerings to meet the
pany has acquired WagonBee, tions. The company allows travel time getting price quotes from WagonBee said,”The Indian car evolving customer needs.”
one of India’s largest B2B vehicle agents and businesses to easily multiple suppliers, confirming rental market is estimated to be In a similar move, Goomo had
rental marketplaces. WagonBee sign up on the rental marketplace cab availability, and ensuring around 15 to 18 billion US$ and is earlier acquired Zopky,a holiday
was established by ex-NIT Trichy through the web, app or email, timely pickup. The acquisition of expected to grow at 17 to 20 per marketplace start-up to build its
graduates Vikash Singh and just by providing some basic per- WagonBee will help Goomo add cent year-on-year. However, only presence in the holiday packages
Navneet Misra in 2016. It is a B2B sonal and company information. road transportation services to about 10 per cent of this market space. Over the last 12 months,
car rental marketplace for travel In addition, customers get access its list of offerings, and further is organized and the rest is man- the company has set up its online
agents and suppliers, enabling to a 24x7 support helpline to ad- drive the brand’s promise of de- aged by several smaller opera- platform, created new products,
them to rent a vehicle of their dress their queries or seek clari- livering end-to-end travel solu- tors.WagonBee and Goomo are a acquired customers and estab-
choice from over 5,000 registered fications on booking details. tions to customers. Over and perfect synergistic match given lished a robust partner network.

EXPRESS TRAVELWORLD 19
February 2018