Dive Brief:
- OYO announced in March its plan to add more than 100 hotels this year in the U.S., a market it entered in 2019.
- New properties will expand OYO’s U.S. footprint in Oregon, Washington, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida and Texas, which OYO says is the largest and fastest-growing market in the U.S.
- The announcement signals a return to OYO’s high-speed approach to openings after a period of contraction and closures during the pandemic.
Dive Insight:
Indian hospitality technology company OYO is returning to a pace of openings not seen since it entered the U.S. market in 2019. In fact, the 100 hotels announced for 2023 nearly doubles the number of hotels added to its portfolio in 2022 — itself a near 23% increase compared to 2021.
This pickup in pace comes after a challenging pandemic period for OYO: A January 2021 Wall Street Journal analysis showed the number of hotel rooms worldwide dropped by more than half in the previous year, and the company also dealt with mass furloughs of employees — cutting staff from about 30,000 to 10,000 in 2020. It also reportedly terminated or did not renew contracts with hotels posting losses.
Furthermore, OYO experienced pushback from some U.S. hotel owners upset with the property management system according to Skift and its inability to set room rates, resulting in thousands leaving the network.
SoftBank-backed OYO’s planned 2023 portfolio expansion brings it closer to its original ambitions in the U.S. market, where it debuted in 2019 and added 100 hotels in 60 cities in just four months.
“Our US operations have seen significant growth in 2022. But 2023, may just be the best year for us,” said Gautam Swaroop, CEO of OYO International, in a release, adding that more than 15 hotels have already signed up with OYO so far this year.
