OYO plans $332 mn expansion of European vacation home rentals

Gurugram-based hospitality chain Oravel Stays, which runs OYO Hotels and Homes, has earmarked nearly $332 million for its Amsterdam-headquartered home rental platform OYO Vacation Homes to deepen its reach in the European vacation rental market.

The move follows close on the heels of the acquisition of Amsterdam-based online travel accommodation platform @Leisure Group and its brands Belvilla, Dancenter, Danland and Traum-Ferienwohnungen by Oravel Stays.

Technology-enabled key management and cleaning services will be rolled out in properties under the OYO Vacation Homes ecosystem across Europe, an official statement said. The services are currently available only in its properties in the Netherlands. 

The Belvilla online platform will also see technology updates, which will ease hotel services like booking. 

“We are focusing on enhancing our customer proposition including consumers from new geographies who travel to Europe from across the world including the US, Asia, China and the Middle East. With a goal of becoming the largest vacation rentals business in Europe, OYO Vacation Homes will continue to make significant investments in resourcing and manpower towards growing its existing footprint in the market,” said Tobias Wann, CEO, OYO Vacation Homes. 

The Gurugram-based hospitality unicorn had acquired the Dutch travel accommodation platform @Leisure Group in a deal reportedly worth around $415 million. 

The deal brought @Leisure Group’s 30,000 holiday homes across 13 countries in Europe into the fold of OYO Vacation Homes.

The $332 million investment is also geared to strengthen the partnership between OYO Vacation Homes and its property partners.

Earlier this year, OYO rolled out a collateral-free cash-advance facility for asset owners under its OPEN (OYO Partner Engagement Network) programme. The OPEN programme was initiated in India to rope in more asset owners and properties into the OYO ecosystem. 

Earlier this year, the SoftBank-backed OYO received funding from another home rental accommodation platform Airbnb.