an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . september 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article is an orphan as no other articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . april 2014 travelguru.com type private industry online travel agency founded may 2005 founder ashwin damera ganesh rengaswamy headquarters mumbai maharashtra india products hotels services hotel booking travel booking website www.travelguru.com travelguru.com is a travel website and an online vacation packages hotel booking portal based in mumbai india . 1 2 3 contents 1 services 1.1 hotel bookings 2 history 2.1 inception 2.2 acquisition of desiya 2.3 travelocity takeover 2.4 yatra.com takeover 3 references 4 external links services edit hotel bookings edit after its inception in the year 2005 travelguru shifted its focus to hotels in may 2006 and soon became one of the most promising online travel portals . the acquisition of desiya in november 2006 boosted travelguru s global goodwill in terms of hotels and travel destinations . soon after travelguru.com became india s largest online travel portal in terms of b2b and b2c hotel properties business . travelguru.com specialises in hotel bookings and business trip planning . travelguru.com features the largest selection of hotels across india . the range of hotels includes luxury five star three star and budget hotels . travelguru.com is one of the earliest online travel ventures in india . 4 5 6 7 8 history edit travelguru.com was originally founded by ashwin damera and jarad fisher in 2005 while the two were studying at harvard business school . the business plan placed second in the hbs business plan competition and travelguru.com originally aimed to serve as india s first one stop travel portal offering air hotel and car rentals . in the summer of 2005 fisher left the business and ganesh rangasamy stepped in and joined damera . 9 travelguru shifted its focus from offering flights bookings to hotel bookings in the year 2006 . soon after travelguru acquired desiya.com . the acquisition was regarded as a significant step up for travelguru in terms of market quality and quantity of hotels . in october 2007 travelguru launched hotels ka guru ad campaign which received accolades from all the sectors of the society and the corporate world . the global meltdown in the year 2008 09 affected the ecommerce businesses significantly . this was the time when travelguru faced financial difficulties and survived on the small loans from sequoia battery ltd. the online travel company was taken over by travelocity global in the year 2009 . in the year 2011 travelguru.com forayed into retail market by introducing 12 profitable mall stores all over india . in june 2012 travelocity global sold travelguru.com to the indian travel giants yatra.com . 4 10 11 inception edit ashwin damera a student at harvard business school inspired by the significance growth of the e commerce market in india founded travelguru.com with his classmate ganesh rangaswamy . travelguru.com was the coincidental conclusion of a midnight chat between the two founders . in 2005 ashwin damera had a brilliant idea of starting an online travel portal which incidentally was the need of the hour for booming indian e commerce market . the business plan was pitch perfect and won second place in the harward business plan contest . a year later ashwin and ganesh acquired enough investors to launch travelguru.com on world wide web . 4 10 12 acquisition of desiya edit the acquisition of new jersey based b2b travel portal desiya by travelguru was one of the first online travel deals between two big giants of the travel industry . the then ceo of travelguru.com ashwin damera decided to expand travelguru s reach by making a swift and quick entry into online b2b travel market of india . desiya.com was a new jersey based online travel company having offices in new jersey london kolkata and gurgaon . at the time of acquisition desiya.com had a strong clientele of 1000 travel agents and 225 travel portals . the deal was believed to be worth rs . 100 crores approx 25 million . the acquisition of desiya was funded by us based battery ventures and sequoia capital partners india . 13 14 15 16 travelocity takeover edit in august 2009 travelocity global had acquired the distribution network of travelguru.com . at the time of the takeover travelocity was one of the world s largest online travel companies and travelguru.com was one of the emerging market leaders in indian e commerce sector . travelguru had access to more than 4000 hotels in india and had a strong domestic base . the takeover was seen as an opportunity for travelocity india to build teams and relationships in india . the strong domestic customer base of travelguru.com helped travelocity india to grow their national dominance . even after the takeover travelguru.com continued its operation as a standalone business and brand in india which focused on hotels demand supply and a wholesome distribution network within the country . travelguru.com and travelocity worked together and brought about some noteworthy profits to indian hotel suppliers with an inflated demand and a wide range of redistribution partners . the collaboration also benefited indian travellers with an increased broadcast of choice of travel deals across all hotels in india . however travelocity sold travelguru.com to the indian online travel giants yatra.com . 17 18 19 yatra.com takeover edit yatra.com one of the leaders of online travel industry in india bought travelguru.com from travelocity in mid june 2012 . the takeover strengthened yatra.com s position as a leading online indian travel company . at the time of takeover travelguru.com had access to more than 6500 hotels in india and almost 72000 hotels worldwide and was a fourth player behind yatra.com in the online travel industry . the idea behind this takeover was to combine the strengths of both the portals and bridge the gap between makemytrip.com in the hotel booking segment . the acquisition also promised strong financial growth for both the parties . the collaboration brought significant changes in the indian travel industry by swelling the demand of the consumers and delivering them with best deals and services under a single leadership . travelguru.com now operates as a 100 % subsidiary of yatra.com . travelguru was yatra.com s fourth major takeover in the span of 18 months . 20 21 22 references edit travelguru travelguru s story mumbai india retrieved january 22 2012 travelocity acquires travelguru the times of india mumbai india august 20 2009 retrieved january 22 2012 travelguru launches new campaign the guru of hotels techonline india mumbai india october 3 2012 retrieved january 22 2012 a b c travelguru . woolor . 2012 07 02 . retrieved 2013 10 18 . tnn aug 20 2009 12.17 am ist 2009 08 20 . travelocity acquires travelguru times of india . articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com . retrieved 2013 10 18 . cs1 maint multiple names authors list link anindya upadhyay et bureau jul 2 2012 05.26 am ist 2012 07 02 . yatra.com acquires travelguru economic times . articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com . retrieved 2013 10 18 . cs1 maint multiple names authors list link http www.irisbook.in newscentre prstoryshow.php filer 201206131210065 & dir 2012 06 13 & secid pr travelguru announces smart travel destinations for winters . smetimes.in . 2012 10 23 . retrieved 2013 10 18 . hbs winners and success stories . http www.hbs.edu newventurecompetition winners and success stories pages success stories.aspx . hbs . retrieved 23 october 2014 . external link in website help a b battery ventures sequoia capital india invest 15m in travelguru . tmcnet.com . 2006 11 29 . retrieved 2013 10 18 . hotel ka guru travelguru s key to selling hotels online . travel biz monitor . 2009 02 25 . retrieved 2013 10 18 . moneycontrol.com . moneycontrol.com . retrieved 2013 10 18 . vishakha talreja tnn dec 20 2007 12.13 am ist 2007 12 20 . travelguru to acquire desiya for rs 100 cr economic times . articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com . retrieved 2013 10 18 . cs1 maint multiple names authors list link travelguru.com acquires desiya.com plans rs 5 crore ad spend afaqs news & features . afaqs.com . 2007 12 21 . retrieved 2013 10 18 . published wednesday november 29 2006 21 03 ist 2006 11 29 . travelguru bags 15mln from battery ventures sequoia capital news oneindia . news.oneindia.in . retrieved 2013 10 18 . cs1 maint multiple names authors list link travelguru buys desiya.com for 25 mn . hindustan times . retrieved 2013 10 18 . the boot the business of online travel zuji boss roshan mendis on travelocity buying travelguru . tims boot.blogspot.in . 2009 08 31 . retrieved 2013 10 18 . travelocity global acquires travelguru timesnow.tv latest breaking news big news stories news videos . timesnow.tv . 2009 08 18 . retrieved 2013 10 18 . news . newyorkerchic.com . retrieved 2013 10 18 . yatra.com buys travelguru.com to beat makemytrip . moneycontrol.com . retrieved 2013 10 18 . 1 yatra.com to acquire travelguru.com the times of india . timesofindia.indiatimes.com . retrieved 2013 10 18 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title travelguru.com & oldid 743843978 categories travel websitese commerce in india2005 establishments in indiacompanies established in 2005internet properties established in 2005hidden categories cs1 maint multiple names authors 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