Odisha Govt turns to Oyo for 1,000 hotel rooms during Hockey World Cup

One of the fastest hotel brand from India and Southeast Asia, Oyo may get a big opportunity from Odisha government as the coastal state is slated to host Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 starting from November 28.

According to Vishal Dev, Secretary, Tourism Department, the officials had held a meeting with Oyo to bring more hotel under its umbrella of hotel brands to fulfill the huge demand from fans and tourist who will throng the state during the World Cup (November 28 to December 16).

Dev was addressing media persons at the Third Odisha Tourism Conclave hosted by Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO), reports Business Standard.

Meanwhile, a local publication also reported that Oyo is looking to turn private houses into hotels to match the requirements. The SoftBank-backed company will train homeowners to welcome foreign tourists and the tourism department will provide the quick licence to operate private homes as a hotel brand under Oyo.

For private homeowners, this scheme will be available from September 2018 to March 2019.

Besides Oyo, the government is reaching out to more hoteliers to match the demand as 10,000 to 15,000 international tourists are expected to come in the event.

On the back of steep rise in footfalls, the state government also eyeing to attract tourist with planned packages for about 500 tourists during the World Cup that will include accommodation, tickets, and sightseeing.

It's worth noting that Oyo has been turning home into commercial accommodation spaces across popular holiday destination such as Goa, Manali and several others for a while. It had a dedicated vertical Oyo Home brand under which Oyo renovates and manages lying vacant into modern, and serviceable spaces.

Recently, it also launched a new product Oyo Living to offer PG sort of accommodation (without food) for students and working professionals.

Since Oyo has hands on experience in turning individual properties into serviceable space through Home and Living verticals, it won't be a huge challenge for the company to meet the government expectation.