OYO Hotels and Homes appoints CEO for Southeast Asia and the Middle East

• Mandar’s rich experience in management consulting, especially service operations to fuel OYO’s mission of creating quality spaces

Dubai: OYO Hotels and Homes, the world’s third-largest and fastest-growing chain of leased and franchised hotels, homes & living spaces has announced the appointment of Dr. Mandar Vaidya as the Chief Executive Officer for Southeast Asia and the Middle East, effective August 1, 2019. This appointment comes as a part of the company’s efforts to continue to invest in and attract world-class leadership, as part of its ongoing focus to drive accelerated growth in two of its high potential markets - Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

A seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience, Dr. Vaidya would be responsible for driving business growth for OYO in these two regions, which include markets like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, UAE, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The company has already committed over $200 Million in investment in Southeast Asia which will help in fueling its aggressive expansion plans in the region over the next couple of years.

OYO Hotels continues to bring its successful model of combining design, hospitality, and technological expertise, financial acumen and operational capabilities to real estate owners around the world, giving them the ability to get a higher return on investments, access easy financing opportunities, transform their hotels, and offer good quality customer service, thereby significantly increasing occupancy and profitability – in every OYO building. There are over 23,000 of these buildings worldwide with 1,500+ buildings being located in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. For customers, OYO started with the belief that everyone deserves a beautifully designed, chic and comfortable living space. And everyone deserves a better life. The company has been committed to change the way people live and did that by upgrading unbranded hotels into great quality living spaces and offering them at affordable prices in the best locations around the world.

Commenting on the development, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, OYO Hotels and Homes, said, ‘’We are thrilled to welcome Mandar to the OYO family as he takes the charge of strengthening OYO’s presence in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. He exhibits true characteristics of an OYOpreneur and has a problem-solving attitude which is necessary as we move towards our goal of transforming the global hospitality landscape. These two markets are crucial to our international expansion strategy and in a brief period of time, we are delivering high-quality accommodation experience to guests in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Under Mandar’s leadership, we look forward to establishing a strong relationship with asset owners in these regions while staying true to our mission of delivering a chic hospitality experience at hard-to-ignore prices. I wish him the best for the journey ahead.’’

Before joining OYO, Dr. Vaidya was working at McKinsey and Co. for 15 years, from 2002 to 2017, mostly in India with stints in Singapore and the UK. At Mckinsey, he was a partner and led the health services practice in India, and the hospitals practice for Asia. His work was focused on operations - both hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, and health policy. He also led the Delhi office of McKinsey for 4 years. After this long stint, Mandar was on sabbatical for the last two years. He also taught a problem-solving course at Ashoka University's Young India Fellowship program.

Dr. Mandar Vaidya, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, OYO Hotels & Homes, Southeast Asia and Middle East, said, ‘’Today, OYO Hotels and Homes is synonymous with quality stays, innovation and is driven by passionate individuals who are working towards a mission. I am thrilled to be a part of this ecosystem and shaping the company’s future in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, which are critical growth markets for the company. In a short span of six years, OYO has established itself as the world’s fastest growing chain of hotels, homes and living spaces while being the preferred choice of millions of customers and asset owners. I am keen to work with the best minds in the industry to drive value for every stakeholder as we come together to create something exciting.’’

Mandar is a qualified medical doctor, having completed his MBBS and internship from Grant Medical College and JJ Hospital in Mumbai. After a brief stint as a Medical Officer, he opted out of an MD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and pursued an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute, Mumbai.

Today, OYO Hotels and Homes has over 1,260+ hotels and 32,600+ exclusive rooms under management in Southeast Asia and 275+ hotels and homes with 8,000+ exclusive rooms in the Middle East. The hospitality chain forayed into Southeast Asia in 2016 with Malaysia and has grown its presence to over 125+ cities in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It aims to add 2 million rooms under management in Southeast Asia by 2025. In the Middle East, OYO is present in the UAE and the Kingdom Saudi Arabia and offers travelers comfortable and standardized stays across 275+ hotels and homes and 8,000+ leased and franchised homes and hotel rooms. The company has extended its multi-brand strategy to UAE by introducing OYO Home and Capital O. Both these regions are characterized by a fragmented hospitality landscape, with a clear gap in demand-supply of quality living space, making it a high potential market for OYO.

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About OYO Hotels & Homes:
Opening its doors in 2013, OYO Hotels & Homes is the world’s third-largest chain of hotels, homes, managed living and workspaces. The portfolio combines fully operated real estate comprising more than 23,000 hotels and 46,000 vacation homes. OYO along with Vacation Homes categories managed by the company under OYO Homes, Belvilla and Dancenter brands can be found in more than 800 cities in 80 countries, including the U.S., Europe, U.K., India, Malaysia, Middle East, Indonesia, Philippines, and Japan. For more information, log onto  https://www.oyorooms.com/

OYO in Southeast Asia:

• Since its foray into the region in early 2016 with Malaysia, OYO’s chain of hotels, homes and living spaces has grown to over 125+ cities in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. In the region itself, we have over 1,260 franchised and leased hotels with 32,500+ exclusive rooms
• In Indonesia, OYO is present across 86 cities with 21,000 exclusive keys in 850 franchised and leased hotels
• In Malaysia, OYO is present in 25+ cities with 8,000 rooms in 250 hotels
• In the Philippines, OYO has a strong presence across 10 cities, including with 2100 rooms in 75 hotels
• Vietnam is the newest market where OYO has launched its operations in July 2019 and has 90+ OYO hotels with 1500 rooms in 6 cities
• Within a couple of months, OYO has launched four of the biggest SEA tourism markets but also committed investments over $200 Million to the region
• OYO’s aim is to deepen its presence in these markets while aggressively expanding to more cities
• The company is targeting 2 Mn rooms under management in SE Asia alone by 2025

OYO in the Middle East:

• OYO forayed into the Middle East in October 2018 with UAE followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in February 2019
• Currently, OYO has over 160+ hotels and homes in UAE with presence across six emirates, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Fujairah and Ajman and has welcomed over 225,000 guests in UAE
• Interestingly, almost 46% of OYO’s guests since its launch in UAE have come from within the UAE with the rest coming from India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, United States, Australia, Italy, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mauritius, United Kingdom among several other countries
• The top ten countries in terms of guests received by OYO’s properties in UAE include UAE, Oman, India, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, France, Russia, Pakistan, USA and Bangladesh
• In the UAE alone, the company has over 700 (direct and indirect) employees with individuals hailing from Middle Eastern countries like Egypt and Jordan. OYO aims to create 4000+ direct and indirect jobs in the UAE by the end of 2019, and 10,000+ + direct and indirect jobs by 2020
• In Saudi Arabia, OYO is present across 14+cities, with over 5,800 rooms & about 110 live buildings
• In January 2019, OYO announced its partnership with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (KSA). As a part of this partnership, OYO will provide the ministry access to OYO’s technology suite, which includes OYO OS and Krypton technologies, to enable them to deliver an elevated hospitality experience in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
• OYO Hotels in Saudi Arabia will employ over 1,400 people in KSA it calls ‘OYOpreneurs’ by the end of 2019 and generate employment for over 5,000 Saudi citizens by 2020
• The company will setup 2 training institutes one in Riyadh and Jeddah to train Saudi graduates in Hotel Management

© Press Release 2019