London
Global travel technology company OYO’s hotels in London clocked a 21% increase in revenue & 18% increase in per available room revenue (RevPar) as travellers flocked the city to witness Britain’s first coronation in nearly 70 years. The coronation long weekend starting 5th to 8th May 2023 saw a 15% increase in average daily rates for hotel rooms in London on the OYO platform and OTAs, compared to an average business-as-usual weekend in April i.e., 14thto 17th April. Hotels across UK saw a 16% increase in revenue and 10% increase in RevPar as compared to an average business-as-usual weekend in April i.e., 14thto 17th April.
Online searches and demand for hotels in London witnessed a spike even during weekend preceding the coronation week. The bank holiday weekend from 28th April to 1st May saw OYO hotels in London clocking the highest revenue per available room (RevPar) of 2023, surpassing all previous months up until April. This was 17% higher than the popular Easter weekend – 7th to 10th April 2023, which is usually one of the busiest weekends in April.
While many travelled to London to witness the celebrations, others utilized the holiday to move away from the bustle. The company witnessed high demand for hotels outside of London for the bank holiday weekend preceding the coronation week with 24% increase in RevPar vs business as usual weekend in April (14th to 17th April).
Talking about the coronation weekend, Gautam Swaroop, CEO- OYO International said, “April has been the highest grossing month for us in 2023 in terms of revenue. A once in a century event such as the coronation has created an increased demand for hotels in the city and encouraged travel to London as many from overseas also came to witness this event and partake in the celebrations. Reports indicate that there was an over 14% increase in flight bookings to for the Coronation weekend alone.”
Puneet Yadav, Head – OYO UK added, “Businesses in the travel and tourism sector benefitted greatly from the ceremony. Coronation special tours and walks were a common sight and demand for hotels in and around London during the coronation weekend, is estimated to have brought an economic boost of £1.2 million ($1.49 million).”
OYO empowers hotels by boosting demand and in turn increasing revenue via multiple Online Travel Agents (OTAs) & its own website and mobile app. OYO’s best-in-class Artificial Intelligence-enabled pricing software automatically drives the best booking prices across all channels, based on room type, seasonality and other factors, therefore, enabling such increase in revenues. In the last 4 years, OYO’s pricing engine, has done over 11 million price modifications in the UK market.
With rising costs and staff shortages in the UK, the company has also rolled out a completely automated self-check-in technology solution to provide a seamless experience to guests and reduce day to day operational hassles for the hotel owners. It also empowers hotel owners with an AI powered chat solution that takes away a lot of operational headaches away from the owners.
The company also helps ensure great experience for customers, with automated tools such as Artificial Intelligence powered chatbots to quickly resolve customer queries, loyalty programmes and easy refund if needed. OYO’s Guest Satisfaction scores are at 85%, a 100% improvement in the last two years and the average issue resolution time is under 3 hours. Nearly 75% of queries are resolved directly by Yo!Chat – OYO’s award winning chatbot and self-serve IVR menu.
OYO UK recently announced that it will be adding over 50 hotels to its portfolio in the UK in 2023. OYO currently has 150+ small hotels in over 65 cities in its network in the UK. London, Birmingham, Torquay, Great Yarmouth and Manchester are the top markets for OYO in UK and it further plans to expand and focus on Leeds, Brighton & Plymouth in 2023.
OYO has presence in over 35 countries globally. It owns a vacations home business in EU called OVH (OYO Vacation Homes) which operates legacy brands such as DanCenter and Belvilla.
About OYO: OYO is a global platform that aims to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses with hotels and homes by providing full-stack technology products and services that aim to increase revenue and ease operations; bringing easy-to-book, affordable, and trusted accommodation to customers around the world. OYO offers 40+ integrated products and solutions to patrons who operate over 168,711 hotel and home storefronts in more than 35 countries including India, Europe and Southeast Asia, as of September 30, 2022. For more information, visit www.oyorooms.com.
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