OYO Hotels to invest $50 Million in the Philippines to fund their expansion
Photo and Text By Monsi A. Serrano
Seeing the big opportunities in the Philippines, OYO Hotels, South Asia’s largest, and the world fastest growing chain of hotels, homes and spaces proudly announced its formal expansion into Philippines during the media conference held last Wednesday, January 30, at Marquis Events Place, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.
After establishing its foothold in Southeast Asia with successful operations in Malaysia and Indonesia, OYO Hotels chose Philippines to further strengthen its presence and influence in the region.
To show their seriousness in their commitment to embark on aggressive expansion, OYO Hotels has earmarked an investment budget of $50 Million.
Starting with over 21 franchised and leased hotels, spread across Metro Manila, Tagaytay and Cebu, OYO Hotels plans to enter more than 10+ cities by 2020. The hospitality chain has also committed an investment of over $50 million over the next few years in the country with the mission of transforming its hospitality landscape in the country. As a part of its continued commitment to the country, OYO Hotels aims to further generate over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs that will help support the economic trajectory of Philippines.
Launched in India in 2013, the tech-driven, full-scale hospitality chain works with small and independent hotels, while transforming them into quality living spaces, inducing operation efficiency through staff training, technology solutions for housekeeping, F&B and seamless experience for both guests and asset owners. OYO Hotels has always believed that neighborhood hotels possess the untapped potential of being at par with big chains in terms of both service and Revpar, and is uniquely placed to bring this advantage to the asset owners in Philippines. OYO’s presence in the country would also be an enabler of multiple employment opportunities in the field of housekeeping, front office, F&B, general management, civil engineering, data science, hospitality operations and technology.
Commenting on the development, Abhinav Sinha, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of OYO Hotels and Homes, said, ‘’OYO is committed to offering customers a superior yet affordable stay and travel experience while helping improve the yield for independent hoteliers in the country. With its abundant natural resources and many captivating tourist sights and destinations, the Philippines offers local and foreign tourists alike endless adventures.
In 2018, the Philippines welcomed a record-breaking number of tourists and we are positive that a great opportunity lies in front of us to build a strong and sustainable hospitality ecosystem in the country. We believe that by setting foot in the Philippines, we are advancing our vision of strengthening our foothold in Southeast Asia.”
‘’We’ve been at the forefront of leased and franchised hotel revolution in India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, UK, UAE and more recently Indonesia and extremely excited to extend our quality-assured experience to travellers visiting Philippines. Our priority here is to ensure that we bring OYO Hotels’ top-notch service starting at 750 Pesos to the country, with the goal to become the most loved hotel chain. With the current 21 hotels, over 500 rooms we aim to grow to 10+ cities by 2020 while becoming a household name for both local and international travellers visiting the country. Our growth in the country will be fueled by a strong local leadership and a team of young hospitality enthusiasts. We look forward to a fruitful journey in the months to come.’’
OYO continues global expansion, builds Philippines footprint
With presence in more than 500 cities across India, China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and now the Philippines, OYO remains on track in its mission to drive sustained yield and increased occupancy for small-scale hoteliers while providing comfortable, high-quality, affordable hospitality experience to travelers, both domestic and international.
OYO kick-starts its Philippine operation with 21+ franchised and leased hotels across Metro Manila, Tagaytay and Cebu with more than 500 exclusive rooms. As part of its expansion plan in the country, OYO is looking to launch 20,000 more rooms in 10+ key cities all over the archipelago, including Palawan, Cebu, Boracay and Davao. This means that by 2020, OYO would have created 1,000 jobs, further strengthening the hospitality and real estate industries in the country.
Talking about the OYO’s impact on the hospitality sector so far, Abhinav added, “At OYO, our mission is to create a perfect space in every place 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 1000+ direct and indirect jobs in Philippines by 2020.”
Tech-driven hospitality, empowering small-scale hoteliers
A global-first, OYO Hotels brings a unique equilibrium between demand and supply gap of quality living spaces through proprietary technology, efficient operations, staff training, civil transformation, inventory management, revenue management and customer relationship manager. All these facets come together to improve a hotel’s performance by delivering a quality-assured experience. Subsequently, hoteliers can take advantage of the technology to boost occupancy and deliver enhanced customer experience.
Meanwhile, Ankit Arya, Country Head for OYO Hotels in Philippines, said, ‘’OYO’s approach towards hospitality is as unique as it can get. Philippines offers an attractive market with sizeable internet and mobile presence, which complements our approach. We’ve received an overwhelming response to OYO’s offerings in the country since our soft launch and look forward to hosting more guests in the coming years.’’
In the interview of The Philippine Business and News with OYO Hotels’ COO, Mr. Sinha said that with this new venture that OYO has started in the Philippines, job and business opportunities will come as their company is aggressively expanding and very keen to explore partnership with property owners on how they can work together with OYO Hotels in Philippines.