Oyo Hotels and Homes, the world’s fastest growing hotel chain company is now in Oman. The hospitality unicorn, with 43,000 hotels and over 1mn rooms across 800 cities in 80 countries, has already spread its network in Muscat, Sur, Sohar, Ras al Hadd, Bidiyah and Salalah.  

Its popular booking site oyorooms.com has 11 properties listed in Muscat, nine in Salalah, three in Sohar, one in Bidiyah, two each in Sur and Ras al Hadd. 

It was founded by Ritesh Agarwal, 26, in 2013 in India, who got the idea for Oyo after roaming around the country at the age of 17 and staying in hundreds of bed and breakfasts, guest houses and hotels.  

In his travels, he realised there was a massive dearth of affordable and good-quality hotels and started Oyo as a hotel aggregation and booking platform, signing up partners who would allot a few rooms to Oyo in exchange for a monthly fee.  

In December 2017, Oyo CEO Agarwal announced that the ‘company has evolved its business to 100 per cent exclusive franchise, manage or operating’. “We do not anymore do hotel aggregation and have become a full-scale hospitality company.” 

Manu Midha, head of Middle East, Oyo Hotels and Homes, told Muscat Daily that the company began Oman operations recently and has presence in six cities. “Currently, we have 1,100+ rooms in all the six cities and are looking to grow another 10-plus cities by the end of 2020.” 

Midha added that the company aims to grow its market share through the globally followed ‘Manchise’ business model. “This model combines the best of management contract and franchise agreement. Oyo Hotels aims to grow its footprint within the two, three and four-star hotels by deploying this model in Oman.”  

Midha said that the sultanate continues to be a popular tourist destination in the Middle East and the travel and tourism sector contributes a significant chunk to the nation’s GDP. “We see strong demand in the tourism market in Oman and aim to expand our footprint.” 

He went on to say that Oyo was committed to change the way people live by offering great quality living spaces at affordable prices in the best locations around the world. “Oman will be no exception. The full-fledged hotel chain brings its successful model of combining design, hospitality, and technological expertise, financial acumen and operational capabilities to Oman, giving asset owners the ability to get a higher return on investments, access easy financing opportunities, transform their hotels, and offer good quality customer service, thereby significantly increasing occupancy and profitability.”