Shares of Indian travel and booking platform EaseMyTrip zoomed over 18 per cent on Thursday amid row over anti-Modi posts by Maldivian ministers. The Maldivian tourism body has called on EaseMyTrip to re-open flight bookings on its platform to the island nation even as the website offers discounts for travel within in India. At 2.45 pm, shares of Easy Trip Planners, the parent firm of EaseMyTrip, gained over 18 per cent to Rs 52.31 apiece on the BSE on Thursday.
EaseMyTrip on Monday said it has suspended all flight bookings to Maldives on its website “in solidarity” with India.
Nishant Pitti, CEO at EaseMyTrip, in a series of posts on X, said the “Water & beaches of Lakshadweep are as good as Maldives/Seychelles. We at @EaseMyTrip will come up with crazy special-offers to promote this pristine destination that our PM @narendramodi has recently visited!” The EaseMyTrip CEO also asked travellers “to discover the enchanting beauty of Ayodhya and the pristine allure of Lakshadweep” and “Say no to Maldives bookings and explore the wonders of Ayodhya and Lakshadweep”.
The company on January 10 announced discount codes NATIONFIRST and BHARATFIRST to its customers. The discounts came a day after the Maldives Association of Tour and Travel Operators (MATATO) called on EaseMyTrip to disregard the “regrettable” comments, saying they “did not reflect sentiments of Maldivians in general”.
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In a statement, addressed to Pitti, MATATO highlighted the importance of Indian tourists, who topped foreign arrivals to the country post-Covid, for the Maldivian economy. “In expressing our heartfelt gratitude for the enduring friendship and partnership that defines the relationship between the Maldives and India, we want you to know the bonds connecting our nations transcend politics. We consider our Indian counterparts… as cherished brothers and sisters,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, EaseMyTrip.com on Wednesday announced venturing into the insurance sector with the launch of its subsidiary EaseMyTrip Insurance Broker Pvt Ltd. The company termed it a “strategic move” to diversify its service portfolio and tap into the insurance market by creating a specialised product to solve customer needs.
“The new venture is expected to solidify EaseMyTrip’s position in the industry and cater to a Rs 7.9 trillion market with EaseMyTrip’s own 20 million userbase,” the company said in a regulatory filing.