OYO, India’s branded network of hotels, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) to standardize and promote homestays in Uttarakhand and develop tourism infrastructure.
OYO will leverage its expertise in transforming and standardizing hospitality real-estate units and make local homestays better equipped to suit the need of visitors and tourists. In first phase of this alliance, OYO has standardized 15 homestays registered with UTDB. The standardization process, will be followed by listing and marketing these properties on OYO’s well-established channels.
Abhinav Sinha, Chief Operating Officer, OYO said, “We are proud to partner the efforts of the Uttarakhand Government in building a tourism-friendly infrastructure while sustaining local communities. The pace of our efforts is aligned towards ensuring that while infrastructure is upgraded and standardized, the local ecosystem is not disrupted.”
Uttarakhand is not only a preferred destination for families and adventure-travellers, but also a focal point for pilgrims on the Char Dham Yatra. OYO homestays are located in key towns like Dehradun, Nainital, Mussoorie, Haridwar and Haldwani.
Shailesh Bagauli, CEO, UTDB said, “We are confident that OYO’s expertise in standardizing and marketing large inventories to customers in different parts of India will drive immense value to this partnership. We look forward to our joint efforts contributing to increased tourist influx and a better stay experience for visitors to Uttarakhand.”
Travelers can create bookings by using the OYO app. With a network of 6000 hotels present across 180 cities in India, OYO also has strong supply channels. It will connect homestay owners with vendors and facilitate the procurement of best in quality products at a reasonable price.
OYO works in close collaboration with the government and industry bodies towards skills-and capacity-building in the hospitality sector. It has previously collaborated with tourism development corporations of Telangana and Kerala, as well as the Government of Andhra Pradesh and CII’s Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council for skilling of hospitality staff.