Oyo checks into Vietnam with US$50 million investment

Oyo Hotels & Homes has officially launched in Vietnam, with the India-headquartered hotel chain committed to investing US$50 in the country’s booming tourism sector.

According to KrAsia, Oyo claims to have over 90 hotel partners across six major cities in Vietnam – Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Phu Quoc, Vung Tau and Nha Trang. The company’s aim is to become the largest hotel chain in Vietnam by the end of 2020 with presence in 10 cities and 20,000 rooms.

Oyo checks into Vietnam with US$50 million investment

OYO 101 Saigon Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1

Oyo Vietnam’s country head Dushyat Dwibedy told KrAsia that most hotel partners in Vietnam are mid-range and budget hotel owners with a smaller number of rooms, who are willing to adopt Oyo’s technology-based solutions to transform their hotel operations. Hotel owners have to pay in order to join Oyo, but Dwibedy said that such fees were flexible.

Currently, Vietnam’s OTA market has been dominated by foreign players such as Booking and Agoda, where local media have reported concerns that hotel owners in Vietnam are too dependent on these websites, and are subjected to higher listing fees.

This in turn, has spelled an opportunity for Oyo to enter the market and encourage users to book directly on the Oyo app or website that lists hotel partners, reported KrAsia.

Launched in 2013, Oyo became a unicorn within six years after raising US$1 billion led by Softbank’s Vision Fund in 2018 and other investors including Sequoia Capital and Grab. In January, Oyo announced that it would double investment in South-east Asia to US$200 million to achieve the goal of 2.5 million rooms by 2023.

 

Source: https://www.ttgasia.com/2019/07/03/oyo-checks-into-vietnam-with-us50-million-investment/