OYO Hotels entered Saudi Arabia, launching an operation center with a deal with 50 hotels in the country for more than 3,000 rooms across seven cities.
The news came following the arrival of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman in India on Tuesday. These properties will be operated under the franchise model with full inventory control similar to other markets like India and China, OYO said in a statement.
“We believe OYO hotels is re-engineering quality living spaces for the world and has emerged as the dependable hospitality brand of choice. We are humbled and happy to bring this standardised quality experience to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where millions of people undertake the pilgrimage of a lifetime,” said Ritesh Agarwal, Group CEO and Founder, OYO.
OYO has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia, attesting to the business potential it sees in the market there, the statement said.
“The company obtained its foreign investment licence from Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) a few months ago and plans to invest significantly in Saudi Arabia, and expand to over 17 cities across 6 provinces by 2020,” SAGIA Governor Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman Al-Omar said.
OYO plan to create a job for 300 people by 2019 and indirect employment of 5000 by 2020, the statement said. “We are honoured and delighted to support the Saudi government’s vision 2030 for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and are committed to continuing investing in the multi-billion dollar opportunity in the hospitality industry in the country,” Agarwal said.
Earlier backed by SoftBank Vision Fund, Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners have put in $1000 million.
Ritesh Agarwal, a 24-year-old school dropout, established Oyo five years in the wake of going around India on a shoestring spending plan. He found fiercely unusual gauges for lodgings and visitor houses and chose to begin online support to convey greater unwavering quality for tourist experience. In the previous two years, Oyo has extended past India into China, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal and Britain.
The company currently has over 13,000 franchised or leased hotels and over 6,000 homes as a part of its network.
