Paytm Acquires ‘Staying Power’ With Purchase Of Hotel Booking Startup; Plans Big Expansion In Travel Business

Paytm has acquired NightStay, a Delhi-based hotel booking startup, and launched it on its platform, as part of plans to expand its travel business, reports Economic Times.

Paytm stated that it plans to invest Rs 500 crore in scaling up its travel operations and added that it had partnered with over 5,000 hotels across segments like budget, luxury and business. These hotel partners include chains like Sarovar, Zuri, Treebo, Indian Hotels, Co’s Ginger, Sterling and Vresorts. Paytm said that its aim was to have 2 million hotels and alternative accommodations internationally and become Asia’s top hotel-booking destinations by 2020.

The company had been in talks to acquire NightStay for Rs.142 crore. NightStay combines unsold inventories across luxury and business segments in hotels and offers last-minute concessional rates to customers.

Paytm, which started its travel business in 2014, claims to sell over 60 million tickets annually across flight, train and bus bookings. Paytm Travel also began offering foreign exchange services to international travellers.

Nasr Khan, the founder of NightStay, will lead the hotel-booking services at Paytm. Madhur Deora, the chief financial officer at Paytm, said the company wants to offer the broadest travel selection and expand its travel partners. Paytm stated that customers could access more than 50,000 daily room nights in its hotel space.