Oyo to Enter Luxury Hospitality Sector in Saudi with US$1billion Investment

Main Photo: The property skyline of Dubai

Date: September 2019

Location: Across Saudi Arabia

Name: Oyo Hotels & Homes

No. of Keys: TBA

Buyer: India’s Oyo Hotels & Homes has signed an MoU with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA). As part of this agreement, Oyo will invest SAR 4 billion (US$1 billion) into building a luxury hospitality ecosystem across Saudi by adding luxury and upper-budget/mid-segment hotels to its chain in the coming months.

With this MoU, the Softbank-backed company marks its entry into offering luxury hospitality in the Kingdom.

Commenting on the development, H.E. Eng. Ibrahim Al-Omar, Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) said: “In Saudi Arabia, the market fundamentals are in place for a vibrant tourism industry, and we believe that the private sector will play a crucial role in unlocking this potential. At SAGIA, our role is to empower and enable domestic and international investors by identifying and developing new opportunities, fostering partnerships and shaping regulatory reforms.”

Currently, Oyo has more than 130 hotels with 6,500 exclusive keys across more than 14 cities in the region.

Speaking about their expansion plans, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of OYO Hotels and Homes, said: “The luxury segment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia holds a lot of promise for us given the rapid growth of the hospitality industry over the last few years. Our operations in the region are supported by more than 350 Saudi nationals and we are keen to generate employment opportunities for young hospitality enthusiasts in the region. The Kingdom’s hospitality industry offers a huge, untapped opportunity and we’ll continue to invest in it and expanding OYO’s presence in the region,’’ added Ritesh.

Oyo Hotels & Homes in Saudi is currently run by a majority of young Saudi nationals, and the company plans to create jobs for more than 5,000 Saudi citizens by 2020.

OYO will also set up two OYO Skill Institutes, one in Riyadh and Jeddah to train Saudi graduates in hotel management.

And not to leave Dubai out….

Oyo Rooms, Gallery Suites is to manage 10,000 Dubai holiday homes in a partnership valued at US$5 billion

The properties will be in the Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah and other such locations, officials revealed. India’s Oyo Rooms has signed a partnership valued at Dh18 billion (US$5 billion) with UAE-based IBC Group’s Gallery Suites Vacation Rentals.

According to the partnership, the groups will now manage 10,000 premier holiday homes in Dubai. Oyo was recently backed by AirBnB with a buy-in of nearly $200 million, which follows an $800 million funding round lead by Masayoshi Son’s $100 billion dollar Vision Fund, in 2018.

Short-term rentals are all set to rise and a report released by Skift Research, says that the cumulative bookings market for short-term rentals will rise to an estimated $115 billion in 2019, up 7% from about $107 billion in 2018.

According to the statement released, the properties being furnished and managed by the groups are within locations rated ‘high’ in the ‘occupancy heat map’ used to illustrate demand, in the recent ‘Dubai Holiday Homes Market Review 2019’ report released by Knight Frank

Investment: SAR 4 billion (US$1 billion) …plus US$5bn on Dubai deal

THPT Comment: Another week, another deal, sorry two and another direction in which Oyo is choosing to go – luxury hotels across Saudi Arabia…where/what next?

First Seen: Hotelier Middle East

The Hotel Property Team (THPT) is a small group of highly experienced business professionals. Between us, we provide a range of skills and experience which is directly relevant to those involved in the hotel property market.

For more information – Visit www.thpt.co.uk or email info@rrh.hmf.mybluehost.me.