As the state of Odisha rebuilds itself after Cyclone Fani, we at OYO Hotels and Homes, are deeply committed to contributing to its journey of strength, valor, and endurance. We recently announced our expansion plans for the state wherein we will increase the count of rooms to more than 10,500 from the current 5,400 across 330+ hotels by the end of 2019. The announcement was made by our Chief Executive Officer for India and South Asia, Aditya Ghosh.
We opened the doors to Odisha in August 2015 and we have been recording high occupancies and, therefore, higher yields for our 330+ asset owners in the state since then. More than 180 OYOpreneurs are committed to our mission of creating quality living spaces in Odisha. As part of our expansion plan, we hope to create more than 6000 direct and indirect jobs in the next 5 years across the state.
Today, we have more than 2200 rooms in 196 hotels in the capital city of Bhubaneswar. Hubs like Shaheed Nagar, Railway Station, Patia, Khandigiri, Nayapalli, Bapuji Nagar and Old Town are the top performing locations and they have been consistently receiving the highest footfall of travellers. We will expand our presence to newer cities, including Paradeep, Talcher, Dhenkanaal, Balasore, Bhadrak, Barbil, and Bargarh. We will partner with small and independent asset owners, extend our expertise in technology, operations, revenue management, renovation and transformation to enable successful businesses for them.
“I started my first hotel Railview in Bhubaneswar in May 2017. Initially, the occupancy at my hotel was low due to lack of marketing and operations support on-ground. Then I partnered with OYO in September 2017. The entire OYO team helped Railview in all aspects – operations, guest service, laundry set up, etc. The occupancy level gradually picked up to 100% by December 2017. After that, the Average Room Rate (ARR) slowly increased along with consistent occupancy. Currently, I am happy to share that 30 out of the 40 rooms are occupied by repeat customers and the rest by new customers.” Durga Prasad Pattanaik, owner of OYO 16586 Pragati Beach Resort and OYO 9010 Hotel Railview,
As part of our year-long OPEN initiative, we recently introduced a Cash in Bank facility for asset owners, where we offer a collateral-free, minimal documentation-based, quick disbursement (48 hours) guaranteed business advances to them.
As this initiative will greatly benefit hotels that suffered damage and losses during Cyclone Fani, we are also extending this initiative to asset owners in the state and committing to closely work with them and support them in restoring affected buildings. We will continue to create unique opportunities for business growth and foster an all-around socio-economic ecosystem of development.
