Hospitality firm OYO will invest Rs 1,400 crore in India and Nepal markets in 2019 as part of efforts to increase infrastructure, strengthen technology and internal capability.
The company also announced the launch of a new brand, Collection O hotels, to its existing portfolio of the budget- to mid-segment hotel chain brands.
“Rs 1,400 crore will go in capex, technology and leadership,” OYO India and South Asia CEO Aditya Ghosh told reporters here.
The idea is to further deepen and widen presence across India while focusing on aggressive capacity building to bring the choice of an OYO hotel to every corner of the country, he added.
“As we expand our presence in the market, consistency of quality is key. As a customer first company, we are heavily invested in ensuring customer responsiveness,” he added.
OYO also launched an in-app SoS button for emergency assistance with options to contact the OYO safety response team as well as local law enforcement authorities.
When asked whether the Rs 1,400 crore investment for India and Nepal will come from the USD 1 billion funds raised by the company, Ghosh replied.
Commenting on the plans of the company going forward, OYO Founder and Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal said: “With a strong balance sheet, today we can go to more places than ever, introduce new categories, invest in our assets, while maintaining our high-quality standards, without raising any further capital.”
The company is also narrowing its losses as a percentage of realised value (OYO Hotels’ sales run rate) year-on-year from 44.5 percent in 2016-17 to 20.3 percent in 2017-18 and 10 per cent in 2018-19, he added.
“We are committing over Rs 1,400 crore for technology investments, renovation, and managing investments for the calendar year, and will provide more, if needed, to help the team ensure continued economically efficient growth,” Agarwal said.
OYO forayed into Nepali market setting their first stepping stone from Hotel Prince Plaza at Gyaneshwor in May 2017.
Another reason for OYO to consider Nepal as a destination for expansion is the data from Department of Immigration, which states that of the 174,803 tourists who visited Nepal in 2016, highest number of them were reported from India.
Oyo currently has its presence in 2 cities in Nepal – Kathmandu and Pokhara. The company has plans to venture out in other major cities and remote tourist destinations in the near future.
OYO Rooms Nepal Link : https://www.oyorooms.com/np/
