Oyo Rooms, also known as Oyo Hotels &Homes, has announced entering into a “multi-year strategic alliance with Microsoft” to jointly develop modern travel and hospitality products and technologies.
The company also acknowledges the strategic equity investment by Microsoft. The latest development has come when Microsoft poured in the $5 million strategic investment in the Softbank backed company.
Microsoft Azure qualifies to drive cloud-based innovations in the hospitality and travel tech industry.
The company said that the new solutions will benefit the small and medium hotel and home storefronts around the world and they can enhance their guests’ experience, increase revenue, and run operations seamlessly through Microsoft Azure enabled technological innovation.
Abhinav Sinha, Global COO & Chief Product Officer, OYO Hotels & Homes said, “We are excited to join hands with Microsoft in our constant endeavour to improve business opportunities for the small and independent hotel and homeowners and to redefine experiences for travellers. Our patron app ecosystem provides a ~1.4-2.4X lift in revenues for new hotels and homes that join the OYO network. We do this through our products, and application of (Machine Learning) ML and (Artificial Intelligence) AI, be it running millions of pricing optimizations per day to increase revenues or enabling users to book an OYO within seconds.”
He added, “ Our technology and products have helped our patrons drive operational efficiencies and continuously improve the experience for our guests. This alliance with Microsoft will accelerate the deployment of our products in the hands of small businesses we work with, allowing us to create even more impact through an integrated technology ecosystem available on the cloud for businesses in the remotest corners of the world. For our guests, this alliance will mean more personalization, better choices, differentiated experiences and an improved guest experience in the future. Microsoft’s commitment is further strengthened by the equity investment in the company.”
Due to the pandemic, a change in consumer behaviour has made it challenging for the hotels and tech adoption to come out as the single option. Customers while booking travel focuses on platforms that enable social distancing, local travel, faster booking and improved customer experiences.
The latest development in the company shows the need for technological advancement OYO needed to sustain in the race. Last week, OYO launched a new self-service onboarding tool that reduces the listing time of new hotels or accommodations in its system from 30 days to minutes.
Through this partnership, the company can provide Smart Room experiences including customized in-room experiences for guests, self-check-in supported by a digital register of arrivals and departures and self-Know Your Customer (KYC), IoT-managed smart locks and virtual assistance to its customers.
“Combining the power of Azure with the tech and product stack developed by OYO, we are looking forward to accelerating innovation in travel and hospitality,” said Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India.
He added, “It is inspiring to see how the Microsoft cloud is empowering digital natives like OYO to accelerate industry transformation and innovations, turning the challenges of a post-pandemic era into opportunities for the future.”
Oyo will adopt the Microsoft 365 suite and switch to Github Enterprise for tech development securely.