Ziptrrip Acquires HelloTravel to Enhance MICE and Business Leisure Ventures, ETTravelWorld

Ziptrrip has acquired HelloTravel in its first acquisition since launching operations three years ago, as the AI-led corporate travel platform looks to deepen its presence in the rapidly growing MICE and business leisure segments.

The acquisition marks a significant strategic expansion for Ziptrrip, which has so far focused primarily on corporate travel and expense management. Through the deal, the company gains access to HelloTravel’s extensive travel agent and destination management company (DMC) network, strengthening its capabilities across experiential travel, meetings and incentive travel, and blended business-leisure offerings.

Expanding beyond core corporate travel

The acquisition reflects a broader trend within India’s travel-tech ecosystem, where companies are increasingly looking to build integrated travel platforms rather than operate in isolated verticals.

In a relatively short period, Ziptrrip has built scale in the corporate travel segment, facilitating more than 2 lakh trips across over 650 corporate clients through its AI-driven booking and expense management platform.

The acquisition of HelloTravel allows the company to move beyond transactional corporate travel into higher-engagement segments such as MICE and business leisure, where demand for customised experiences and destination expertise continues to rise.

Access to large partner ecosystem

Founded over 18 years ago, HelloTravel has evolved into one of India’s larger travel marketplace platforms, with more than 7,000 verified travel partners across destinations and over 2 lakh experience-led travel packages.

The platform also brings a sizeable digital community and operational reach across more than 10,000 destinations, having served over one crore travellers to date.

For Ziptrrip, this provides immediate scale in areas where supplier relationships and execution capabilities are critical, particularly in MICE and experiential travel.

Building integrated travel infrastructure

The acquisition is also expected to strengthen the strategic positioning of Wayfarers Technologies, which is building an integrated stack combining travel management, expense management and destination-led travel services.Such integrations could become increasingly important as corporate travel evolves beyond simple flight and hotel bookings toward broader employee mobility and experience ecosystems.

The combined platform is expected to create synergies across travel agents, hospitality partners and DMCs, while allowing greater control over execution and customised travel delivery.

Focus on AI-led travel operations

Shan Prabhakaran, Co-founder and CEO of Ziptrrip, said HelloTravel’s destination expertise and partner relationships would help the company expand meaningfully into MICE and business leisure.

“Our focus will be on building on this foundation and working closely with partners to unlock new opportunities,” he said.

Rishabh Agarwal, Co-founder and COO of Ziptrrip, added that combining HelloTravel’s ecosystem with Ziptrrip’s AI-led infrastructure could help deliver more customised and reliable travel experiences, especially in segments where operational execution is crucial.

Consolidation trend gains momentum

The transaction also reflects growing consolidation within India’s travel and hospitality technology landscape, as companies seek scale, supplier depth and differentiated offerings in an increasingly competitive market.

As corporate travel rebounds and business-leisure convergence accelerates globally, MICE and experiential travel are emerging as high-growth segments for travel-tech firms.

The acquisition positions Ziptrrip to participate more aggressively in these segments while broadening its role from a corporate booking platform to a more comprehensive travel ecosystem player.

Under the deal, HelloTravel will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Wayfarers Technologies, while its existing team will remain with the business to ensure continuity across operations and partner relationships.