OYO Hotels and Homes, South Asia’s largest, one of China’s top five, and the world’s fastest-growing chain of leased and franchised hotels, homes & living spaces has announced the milestone of expanding its chain to 180,000 rooms in China, in less than 12 months of operation. As the company celebrates its first year of operations in the country, it has made an incredible mark on China’s hotel industry.
Launched in November 2017, China operates as a home market for OYO, along with India. Today, it has 180,000+ franchised & leased rooms and 4,000+ hotels under franchise, manchise and leased format as part of its chain in China. Prime cities include Hangzhou, Xian, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Kunming, among others. Some franchised & leased hotels are present in Hulunbeier City, Sanya City, and Hainan Provinces. The expansion is in line with OYO Hotel’s vision to create beautiful living spaces for travellers while driving high yields for asset owners.
Commenting on completing a year in China, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & Group CEO, OYO Hotels & Homes said, “Buoyed by rapid economic growth, China’s burgeoning US$150 bn hotel industry will continue surging ahead despite being fragmented. It enjoys a strong influx of both domestic and international tourists. With this economic boom, there’s a steep rise in the middle-income group where more than 500 million Chinese locals scout for good-quality accommodation at affordable prices. It is here that we at, OYO Hotels, are redefining China’s hospitality industry, which is also a home market for us, by creating a unique combination of predictability, standardization, quality, and affordability. We want to thank the government of China for its support. We are thankful to our business associates, asset owners, guests, 5,500 OYOpreneurs and 60,000 Chinese who are working at our hotels for their continued love and support in making our vision for China a reality. We strongly believe that our journey of adding value to the travel experience for the middle-income individuals while creating jobs and skill development has just begun.”
Over the past five years, OYO Hotels has built strong and robust operational and transformational, construction and distribution capabilities, making it possible to franchise, lease and renovate hotels in a record time of 3-14 days.
“During our last round of funding, we had committed approx US$600 million to the China market, of which US$300 million will be used for renovation and infrastructure investments. This additional investment we believe will help us drive the next wave of growth in China, which is already ahead of India, that too in a much shorter span. This is a testament to the acceptance OYO has got in China, the relevance of our business model in the market and the opportunity ahead.” added, Ritesh.
With this in mind, OYO has built a strong local team of over 5,500 employees in China under the able leadership of newly appointed Jia Zhou, CTO; Wilson Li, CFO; and Tony Liang, CHRO. The company has also launched six OYO Skill Institutes in Shenzhen, Xi’an, Suzhou, with more in the pipeline, to fuel the hospitality ecosystem. It has trained 924 people in 76 cities with the help of two regional training managers and eight internal trainers while creating more than 60,000 livelihood opportunities in China’s hospitality sector.
China was the third overseas market for OYO Hotels, after successful ventures in Malaysia and Nepal, where it has grown manifold. The Company is focused on transforming the region’s hospitality industry by delivering seamless, exceptional guest experience, ensuring sustainable incomes for asset owners and boosting employment opportunities and incomes for locals in smaller tier provinces.
