Thursday, March 28

OYO Makes Room for Business Travellers

The budget hotel chain OYO is looking forward to expanding its Townhouse brand aggressively. The aim of the company is to take the number of OYO Townhouse hotels to 400-500 by next year, up from 45 at present.

OYO ventured into the UK last month by launching Townhouse hotels in London, and will deepen the brand’s presence in the UK as well as in Indian cities such as Guwahati, Vijaywada, Lucknow, Surat, Nagpur and Pondicherry among others.

“The growth will be deeper and sharper and Townhouse hotels will increase month-on-month. We are aggressively pushing this product. By 2019, Townhouse will expand to many more cities in India, and also grow aggressively in foreign markets,” said Ankit Tandon, COO, OYO Townhouse.

“We expect the structure to continue in a similar way. We are open to both models. With funds coming in, we are looking at investing a significant share in the Townhouse brand,” he said. A week ago, OYO announced it had secured $1billion in additional funding to grow its business in China and for expansion in other international markets.

OYO operates the Townhouse brand on the leasing and management contract models with 60% management contracts and 40% leased arrangements. The brand, priced higher than the more pocket-friendly OYO Rooms, is targeted at millennial business travellers and offers amenities like a café, 24/7 kitchen, printer, white boards and other business services.