India's Oyo Hotels has announced its entry into the United Arab Emirates, starting with the launch of its operations in Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah.
The company is planning on opening over ten full-inventory, franchised and operated hotels and over 1100 rooms across the UAE.
The company raised AED3.68 billion (US$1 billion) funding through SoftBank Investment Advisers last month.
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Oyo chain of hotels is currently present in over 350 cities with over 12,000 asset partners spread across six countries including India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, the UK and now UAE in the Middle East, It also plans to open over 12,000 rooms within 150 hotels across the UAE by 2020.
According to data from Dubai Corporation of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), overall, Dubai hotel room supply is set to reach 132,000 by the end of 2019. The Dubai Tourism also forecasts the hospitality sector to experience sharp, sustained growth over the coming years, with occupied room nights set to reach 35.5 million annually in 2019, representing a 10.2 percent compound annual growth rate over the next 24 months.
Commenting on the developments, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, Oyo Hotels, said: “With over 170 countries committing to the World Expo 2020, the hospitality sector in the Middle East, and more specifically UAE, is poised to grow substantially and with our market learnings and expertise we are ready to tap this opportunity.”
“We are really excited about the opportunity offered by the UAE. This expansion is in line with our quest to support the country’s hospitality ecosystem and creating infrastructure for asset owners to grow and run successful businesses, all of this while ensuring high standards of quality. We want our potential guests and partners to know that in OYO Hotels they’ve found a trusted solution for all their travel and business needs,” added Manu Midha, regional lead, UAE, Oyo Hotels.
The United Arab Emirates is working on a target of opening over 75,070 rooms, across the country and other neighboring countries, and preparing to welcome over 25 million visitors at World Expo 2020.
At the time of entry, Oyo Hotels will offer guests the high quality and affordable experience - perfectly suited for the needs of millennial travellers, aspiring for hassle free accommodations. These properties will be operated under models of manchise, lease with full - inventory control similar to other markets like India and China. These hotels will provide affordable and trusted living options for travelers from GCC countries, India and other International tourists, including business and leisure travelers.
Vartika Goel, country lead, Oyo Hotels, UAE, said: "The country is an attractive market with sizeable internet and mobile presence, which complements our approach. We've received an overwhelming response to OYO Hotels offerings in the country since our soft launch and look forward to hosting more guests in the coming years."
Talking about the OYO’s impact on the hospitality sector so far, Ritesh added: “At OYO, our mission is to create beautiful and quality living spaces by empowering hotel owners to become better hospitality players while ensuring an end-to-end controlled experience for our guests. With our technology and operational expertise, we are enabling hotel owners with technology and across South Asia demand reach, that will help them drastically improve the customer experience while maintaining efficiencies, high occupancy, and yields. We’ve been responsible for enabling over 100,000 job opportunities in South Asia and look forward to creating 4000+ direct and indirect jobs in the UAE by the end of 2019.''
Launched in May 2013, the company was set up with the purpose to address the lack of equilibrium between demand and supply of quality living space, resulting in varied customer experiences and unpredictable business for hotel owners. Oyo Hotels aims to address this gap, using technology and talent, leveraging its built distribution, operational and transformational capabilities to redefine the hospitality landscape, globally. Oyo Hotels has pioneered the world’s first full stack technology led hospitality model and has over 270,000 franchised and leased rooms as a part of the chain, delivering strong revenue yields for its asset partners.