OYO has announced ‘OYO Home’ a Home Management service that utilizes the company’s existing on-ground operations, hospitality technology, housekeeping skills, revenue management algorithms and distribution prowess to deliver a hassle-free solution to second home-owners. Piloted in December 2016, the team intends to focus on locked and unused homes across top holiday destinations in the country. It is already managing over 300 private homes including villas, apartments, bungalows and farmhouses in 5 cities.
Commenting on the launch, Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer, OYO, said “At OYO, we are focused on solving the problem of lack of quality and supply-demand imbalance in the hospitality sector. India’s top holiday destinations have a sizeable number of homes that are locked and unutilized. Homeowners are unable to put these assets to personal or commercial use due to lack of time and-or expertise in homestay-management. We saw this as an untapped opportunity where our business has existing synergies – we have people resources all across India, our hospitality-operations and distribution technology is best in the category, travellers trust our brand and we are already known for pioneering effective solutions tailored to local-market needs.”
Elaborating on the concept, Kavikrut said, “What we are attempting with OYO Home is something that has never been done before. There is significant market opportunity especially as people have invested in second homes in top holiday destinations across India. In Goa alone, the supply of housing has increased by 25% between 2001 to 2011, while the population increased by 8% in the same period. The 2011 census shows that 85,000 residential units remained unoccupied out of the total 5.76 lakh houses on record. The vacancy rates have increased by 62% since the last census. Home owners are unable to utilize these assets because there is no trusted maintenance and management partner. OYO is now taking up this role, having built expertise in various facets of hospitality, including maintenance, upgradation and repair, housekeeping skills, and marketing.”
