Vista Rooms expanding beyond hotels to deliver end-to-end hospitality solution

Vista Rooms, South Asia’s largest chain of affordable stays, is expanding operations to include apartments and villas in their portfolio of properties.

Following a wave of successes with standardizing and branding budget hotels across the island, Vista Rooms is now set to be a complete turnkey solutions provider for the private stays segment.

They offer end-toend support to villa and apartment owners – right from tech, to sales, to regulatory and operational support. This expansion into the informal tourism sector comes as the sector is experiencing a surge in popularity in recent years.

“We are seeing a greater desire from tourists for more authentic stays. Travellers are seeking localized, personal experiences and apartments and villas are great alternatives to hotels that can help meet this need. Hence we are excited to move into this segment where we see a lot of potential for growth. We believe the key to unlocking this potential is in building trust with the customer by providing them with a quality stay. This is where our turnkey solutions will help hosts navigate the usual pitfalls of the hospitality industry,” said Vista Rooms Co-founderankita Sheth.

Vista Rooms has already tied up with over 50 apartments and villas across the island and has begun providing an off the beaten path experience to tourists. This burgeoning segment is only set to grow further with the increase in global awareness of Sri Lanka as an excellent holiday destination thanks to a concerted push from the tourism board. Locals, too, find it easy to book a quick weekend getaway with Vista Rooms.

“We work on a franchise or a complete turnkey model with property owners where we offer our brand, technology and sales network in serving global travellers. Our property owners have on average seen their occupancy increase by 15-20 percent in the first 3 months of operations by accessing our global distribution network of over 100 online and offline travel agents, corporates and repeat customers” said Vista Rooms Co-founder Amit Damani.

Vista Rooms follows an asset and people-light model. Having opened operations in Sri Lanka in March 2016, Vista Rooms has already built the largest network of branded stays in the country with over 300 properties across 25 cities. The same swift growth can be expected from the brand going forward, as they begin catering to a large, untapped demand segment. The online start-up believes that their technological prowess, the ability to offer good quality, standardized experiences and stellar customer service will uplift the segment and create greater demand.