Indian budget hotel chain startup OYO is at it with its international expansion, after branching out to China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, the hospitality unicorn now sets its sights on the European market.
Gurgaon-based OYO said this week that it’s investing USD 330 million into becoming the largest vacation rental management service business in Europe.
In May, it acquired Amsterdam-based holiday rental company Leisure and rebranded it as Oyo Vacation Homes. Leisure has a footprint of 115,000 homes in Europe.
The company also states that OYO Vacation Homes has “doubled its growth” since it acquired ‘Leisure’ in May. The Softbank-backed startup has pledged to look into the interests of the owners of the vacation homes and help them with resources like air conditioning, appliance upgrades, property enhancements, quality cleaning services, and tech-enabled management.
OYO claims to be the world’s third-biggest and fastest-growing hotel chain, operating more than 23,000 hotels and 125,000 vacation homes, with more than 1 million rooms in more than 80 countries.
“We are focusing on enhancing our customer proposition to those who travel to Europe from across the world including US, Asia, China, and the Middle East,” Tobias Wann, CEO of Oyo Vacation Homes, said in a prepared statement.
The company seeks to expand its footprint across Europe to actively compete with the key players in the vacation rental market here like 9flats, Airbnb, Expedia, and FlipKey.
Europe’s vacation rental market will be worth nearly USD18.6 billion this year, according to estimates, growing between 4% and 8% annually resulting in a market volume of USD22.1 billion by 2023.
Tourism is the third largest socio-economic activity in the European Union and makes a substantial contribution to its gross national product and employment. In 2016, a little over half a billion international tourists were present in Europe mainly visiting destinations like Spain, Italy, France, UK, and Germany.