Budget-stay aggregator OYO Rooms, which entered Malaysia this January, is not looking at entering other countries. It proposes to focus on India and Malaysia in the short term.
“Malaysia is shaping up really well. We were not the first entrants there, but we have been building this business without losing any money,” said Abhinav Sinha, Chief Operating Officer.
While the company has tasted success, Sinha told
In India, the company plans to focus on the markets that drive growth.
“Even a city such as Gurugram continues to drive growth for us. It is critical for us to invest in the larger cities and grow in peripheral cities. We already have a wide network. At this point, we are not looking at smaller places which are active just for 2-3 months.”
OYO believes once the capability is built and technology is ready, it will be able to make a dent in any market. On when would OYO enter other parts of South-East Asia, Sinha said: “We will take a call in 2017.”
New venturesThe company, with 70,000 rooms on its platform across 6,500 hotels in 200 cities, started out as an online aggregator for budget hotel rooms, but is now slowly spreading its wings into other travel segments.
“We realised that the value proposition that we have built can transcend boundaries and go to other stay propositions,” he added.
The company had recently acqui-hired TipiHomes and Roads Less Travelled.
The team from Tipi Homes will help OYO capture the market for extended stays, which includes students, interns, and professionals moving to a new city.
With Road Less Travelled, the company will aggressively position itself in the holiday segment. It has already started offering packages in Ladakh, North India, Kerala, and North-East.
On why OYO, which started as a budget room aggregator as its bread and butter, is entering these new travel segments, Sinha said: “We are making sure that we capture the wallet of your existing customer first. We have an existing customer base which is looking at long-stay options and packages. We are still positioned as a stay option, but also think of us when you think of long stay. These are very strategically connected to what we want to become.”
The travel space, however, has becoming increasingly competitive, especially with players such as MakeMyTrip and Yatra trying to tighten their foothold in the hotels and holiday packages segment.
“The competition is very tough. Online travel aggregators still are dominant in flights. That’s how they attract a lot of traffic. They have realised this, and are pushing aggressively and trying to position themselves as hotel or holiday-first companies. But their legacy is still flights-first,” he said.
The company is also not much worried with Airbnb entering the Indian market.
“Airbnb is strong, but in the international market; they are quoting Indians travelling outside the country”