OYO Hotels to tap into Expo 2020 potential

OYO Hotels, the Soft-Bank-backed hospitality chain, is expanding in the UAE with 137 more properties by 2020 as it seeks to capitalise on the influx of visitors to World Expo 2020 taking place in Dubai.

The company, based in India, is planning to grow to 12,000 rooms within two years across Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah, from 1,100 rooms at present, the company said yesterday.

“With over 170 countries committing to the World Expo 2020, the hospitality sector in the Middle East, and more specifically the UAE, is poised to grow substantially,” said Ritesh Agarwal, founder and chief executive of OYO Hotels. “We are ready to tap this opportunity.”

Dubai, best known for its luxury hotels, has focused on a strategy of offering more affordable accommodation to cater to a greater number of tourists. The emirate’s room supply is set to reach 132,000 by the end of 2019, growing at a two-year compound annual growth rate of 11.1 per cent, according to Dubai Tourism, which is targeting more than 20 million Expo 2020 visitors.

The company is planning to grow to 12,000 rooms within two years across Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah

OYO, which focuses on budget and mid-range hotels, opened 13 properties in the UAE when it entered the market in the first half of this year. The expansion brings its total number of hotels in the UAE to 150 properties by 2020.

Established in 2013, OYO, which describes itself as a “digital hotel chain”, uses its own proprietary apps for inventory management, room service, revenue management and tracking customer service performance.

Last month, the company raised $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) from SoftBank Investment Advisers, the global advisory firm that launched SoftBank Vision Fund, which invests in the technology sector.

The money will help to finance OYO’s global expansion plans, including in the UAE, an OYO spokesman told The National.

“The country is an attractive market with sizeable internet and mobile presence, which complements our approach,” said Vartika Goel, country lead of OYO Hotels UAE. OYO has a footprint in more than 350 cities spread across six countries including India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, the UK and now the UAE.