Page 3 - Oyo

OYO to add over 1,000 hotels by Dec, to target 100 first gen hoteliers

Hospitality technology platform OYO on Wednesday said it will add over 1,000 hotels to support over 100 first-generation hoteliers by December 2023 as part of its accelerator programme. The company launched its accelerator programme in March this year with a target of supporting 50 first-generation hoteliers. OYO has already added more than 300 hotels operated by 30 hoteliers since the announcement of the plan which is higher than the initial target of adding 200 properties in the first phase of the programme, the company said in a statement. "Since the unveiling of our Accelerator Program, we have been actively engaging with our hotel partners to gather their insights, concerns, and suggestions," OYO Chief Merchant Officer Anuj Tejpal said. The company is also offering financial assistance to facilitate expansion in new markets. It has already extended support worth Rs 10 crore, it added. With the Indian hospitality sector showing signs of promising growth in the next few years,

OYO to add 300 hill station hotels by Aug to cash in on vacation rush

Hospitality and travel-tech firm OYO on Monday said it will onboard and add 300 hill station hotels to its portfolio by August 2023 to cash in on the summer vacation rush. In north India, the new hotels will be in places such as Manali, Mussoorie, Nainital, Srinagar, Shimla, Dalhousie, and Haridwar while in the South, it will be Ooty, Munnar, and Kodaikanal, the company said in a statement. Gangtok, Darjeeling, and Shillong in the East; and Lonavala and Mahabaleshwar in the West will also see new OYO hotels, it added. The company is witnessing a surge in demand for hill stations and the trend will continue throughout the next three months, an OYO spokesperson said. "With our expansion across key hill stations in India, we aim to provide a wide range of options for travellers, while also contributing to the growth of domestic tourism," the spokesperson added. In addition to expansion across hill destinations, OYO is also aiming to add 1,800 new hotels to its portfolio in 2023 as pa

Fitch Ratings revises outlook on OYO's long-term issuer ratings to positive

Fitch Ratings on Wednesday said it has revised the outlook on Oravel Stays Ltd's (OYO) long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to 'positive' from 'stable', while affirming the ratings at 'B-'. The ratings agency also said it has affirmed the rating on the USD 660-million senior secured term loan facility due 2026, issued by OYO's fully owned subsidiary, Oravel Stays Singapore Pte Limited, at 'B-'. "The outlook revision reflects our view that OYO is on track to generate positive EBITDA and cash flow from operations (CFO) sustainably. This follows positive EBITDA in every quarter of the financial year ended March 2023 (FY23), which is the first year of profits since OYO's incorporation in 2012," Fitch Ratings said in a statement. It further said, "We expect significant growth in its EBITDA in FY24, led by an ongoing demand recovery in the travel and tourism industry, the company's stable gross margins, and reduction in operating costs." The rating reflects OYO's

Chinese hospitality major H World Group sells stake in OYO for Rs 75 cr

Chinese hospitality major H World Group Ltd is understood to have sold 0.15 per cent stake of OYO for around Rs 75 crore, valuing the Indian hospitality and travel-tech firm at around USD 6.5 billion, according to sources. H World Group (HWG), which held 0.78 per cent shareholding in Oravel Stays Ltd that runs OYO, sold around one crore shares to a clutch of UAE-based family offices and institutional investors in a series of transactions, people in the know of the development said. The transactions, which were done in multiple tranches primarily over the course of 2022, have earned H World Group over Rs 75 crore, they said. "This implies a valuation of USD 6.5 billion for OYO," a person added. Following the transactions, the holding of NASDAQ-listed H World Group (HWG) has come down to 0.63 per cent, which is now valued at over Rs 300 crore. When contacted an OYO spokesperson declined to comment. HWG had acquired a stake in OYO in 2017 for USD 10 million at a reported valuation o

India will be bright shining light for world: OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal

India will be the bright shining light for the world driven by its young people who are "driving startups", hospitality and travel-tech firm OYO Founder & Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal said on Saturday. India has become a hub of startups that have created new age services such as Ola ride sharing, OYO rooms and Paytm, which one cannot live without today but were non-existent nine year ago, he said while speaking at a conclave on completion of nine years of the Modi government. "In my opinion, India will be the bright shining light for the world and driven by of course young people in India who are driving startups...," he said. Agarwal said OYO, which also started in 2014, is also nine years old and the company has witnessed a single ecosystem where India has only moved forward. In nine years, he said, India's startup revolution has created around USD 300 billion market cap "out of nothing". Many young people from smaller towns are today aiming to not only become big entrepreneurs but

Surge in domestic travels continues; Manali, Goa top destinations: OYO

As far as destinations are concerned, mountains are the clear choice this summer with 30 per cent of the votes, followed closely by beaches at 26 per cent, it added.

OYO-owned Weddingz.in to expand to 7 cities in 2023 amid rise in demand

OYO-owned Weddingz.in on Friday announced its plans to enter seven new cities in 2023, including in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vadodara, Goa, Varanasi and Ludhiana, to cater to the rise in demand for venues and service providers. Weddingz.in has a presence in 18 cities currently, and over 60 per cent of the business on the platform comes from its focus markets of Mumbai, Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), and Kolkata. The company estimates that the addition of new markets will add over 5,000 listings to the online wedding planning platform. It presently has over 35,000 banquet/venue listings and other related ancillary services on the platform. Aditya Sharma, Business Head, Weddingz.in, said the platform has been noticing a significant increase in demand from Tier II & III cities and access to quality venues and service providers is one of the biggest asks. "Our expansion specially focused on emerging and Tier II markets, will help solve for this growing demand," he

OYO travel agent enrollment reports sharp uptick of 150% in FY23

Hospitality technology platform OYO on Wednesday said it has witnessed over 150 per cent growth in travel agency enrollment in the financial year ended March 31. The company attributed the growth to the travel resurgence in India over the last few years, that widened business opportunities for travel agencies. A total of over 5,300 travel agencies across India worked with OYO in the financial year ended on March 31, 2023, compared to approximately 2,100 travel agencies in fiscal year 2021-22. The growth is equally distributed across all regions in India and supported by travel agencies of different sizes and scales, the company said. OYO has a large network of over 17,000 hotels globally. A large portion of these hotels are in India spread across 400 cities in India. "Collaborating with travel agencies is not just about expanding our reach, it's about cultivating a partnership that fosters mutual growth. "They play a crucial role in our business growth by distributing our hotel .

Oyo may log positive Ebitda of $50-55 million this FY, says Moody's

Moody's said it could downgrade the ratings if OYO's cash burn does not "reduce significantly" over the next 12-18 months

OYO to double Char Dham Yatra hotels this year to meet increased demand

IPO-bound company says 40 new properties will spread key locations of pilgrimage

In a first, Softbank-backed OYO turns cash flow-positive in Q4FY23

The firm expects to report adjusted Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of about Rs 800 crore in FY24

OYO turns cash flow positive for first time in March quarter: Reports

Hospitality tech firm OYO turned cash flow positive for the first time in the fourth quarter of FY2023. The company's Founder & Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal shared the update with OYO employees addressing a townhall virtually on Thursday, sources told PTI. The company is anticipated to end the quarter with nearly Rs 90 crore surplus cash flow, sources said, attributing the increase in bookings across all key geographies, especially in the Europe homes business that is witnessing unprecedented advance bookings both for the upcoming summer season peak and the relatively off-season period from November to March. The company's last reported treasury or cash corpus on the balance sheet is around Rs 2,700 crore. In a presentation shared in the townhall, Agarwal informed that OYO is expected to clock adjusted EBITDA of nearly Rs 800 crore for FY2024. In March, OYO refiled its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the stock markets regulator Sebi under the recently introduced pre-filing ..

Oyo to open 50 properties in Ayodhya, places big bets on religious cities

There has been a consistent rise in the number of tourists visiting Ayodhya over the last few years as the city infrastructure is getting rejuvenated

IPO-bound OYO to expand its US presence with over 100 new hotels this year

New hotels planned in Oregon, Washington, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida

Travel tech firm OYO witnesses 167% rise in bookings for long weekend

Travel tech firm OYO on Thursday said it has witnessed a 167 per cent rise in bookings made through its platform for the three-day long weekend starting with Good Friday as compared to last year. There was a 57 per cent increase in booking demand for beach destinations and 43 per cent for hill stations, according to the company. As per the booking trends, spiritual and pilgrimage destinations are witnessing high demand, indicating a shift towards prioritising spiritual experiences over luxury among Indian travellers. Varanasi emerged as the top choice among pilgrimage destinations, followed by Puri, Shirdi, Amritsar, and Haridwar. Alongside these cities, Tirupati, Mathura, Vrindavan, Guruvayur, and Madurai also saw a significant surge in booking demand for the upcoming long weekend, OYO stated. The region-wise breakdown showed that South India received maximum bookings followed by East, North and West regions. Business destinations such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata als

Oyo pre-files DRHP with Sebi, cuts issue size to $400-600 million

The DRHP was filed under the confidential pre-filing route with a reduced issue size of $400-600 million, all of which will be raised through a primary issuance, in a bid to repay the firm's debt

Softbank-backed Oyo confidentially 'pre-files' for Indian IPO: Report

The company initially filed to go public in 2021, aiming for an IPO size of 84.3 billion Indian rupees ($1.02 billion), but delayed the share sale at that time

OYO-owned Weddingz.in ties up with Lemon Tree Hotels to boost revenue

OYO-owned Weddingz.in on Thursday announced a strategic tie-up with Lemon Tree Hotels in a bid to boost revenue, drive demand and sales. The alliance will help increase the fill rate of banquets and event spaces in Lemon Tree Hotels, in more than 40 destinations across the country, including Delhi NCR, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Pune, among others. Weddingz.in is an online platform offering wedding venues and related services. It was acquired by hospitality tech firm OYO in 2018. "Lemon Tree venues will feature prominently on the Weddingz.in platform, which gets over 19 lakh prospective customers per month, as India's largest wedding venue marketplace," a release stated. Weddingz will craft specific targeted campaigns and undertake search engine marketing and performance marketing campaigns to drive higher interest, it added. "We have millions of visitors searching our platform not just for wedding venues but also for other events such as parties, conference

Less need for capital or headwinds? OYO plans to cut IPO size by two-thirds

Agarwal projects 19% jump in FY23 revenue to Rs 5,700 crore

SoftBank-backed Oyo Hotels to reduce planned IPO amid tech headwinds

It's the second attempt at an IPO by the SoftBank Group Corp.-backed startup, after India's stock market regulator raised multiple red flags on its earlier try in late 2021