OYO Rooms, the budget hotel aggregator, has forged partnership with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) in order to develop a network of better stay options for visitors coming to the region. The brand has signed MoU with the state to develop hospitality ecosystem in the state according to a statement by OYO Rooms.
According to OYO Rooms, the company currently runs 15 homestays in the region and they are registered with the state government. They are looking at a number of 50 homestays by the end of this year. Similar to hotel properties, OYO is standardising the homestays and equipping them with standard OYO amenities the hotel aggregator claims to offer at the hotel properties.
OYO says that the brand is already working with other state governments as well, including Maharashtra and Telangana to develop a tourism ecosystem.
Commenting on the development, Shailesh Bagauli, CEO, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board said, “We are confident that OYO’s expertise in standardising and marketing large inventories to customers in different parts of India will drive immense value to this partnership. We look forward to our joint efforts contributing to increased tourist influx and a better stay experience for visitors to Uttarakhand.”
After budget hotels, homestays are gaining lot of interest from startups and major travel brands alike. Airbnb is stirring things up on a global scale while in India, Stayzilla seems to be leading the trend of homestays. Major OTA Yatra.com introduced TG Stays under which they are offering alternative accommodation options. MakeMyTrip also expressed interest in the segment. Oravel Stays, the company that operates the brand OYO Rooms first started in the alternative accommodation segment but later went ahead in the budget hotel space. However, alternative stay isn’t a segment to be missed and that is why the brand is coming back to it. Indian market offers its unique share of challenges for these players as shared by Stayzilla founder Yogendra Vasupal. There is lot more groundwork required for the platform before people would start trusting and booking. It will be interesting how this segment pans out with the multiple players showing signs of movement.
Source: Business Standard
