Full Form of OYO? How Did It Become a Hospitality Industry Giant?

OYO Full Form = On Your Own Rooms

Oyo, formerly known as Oravel Stays Pvt. Ltd., is an Indian multinational hospitality company that offers budget hotel accommodations to travelers worldwide. The company was founded in 2013 by Ritesh Agarwal, who was then a 19-year-old college dropout from Odisha, India. Agarwal’s vision was to provide affordable and standardized hotel rooms to travelers in India.

The initial concept for Oyo came to Agarwal when he was traveling across India on a shoestring budget. During his travels, he noticed that the budget hotels he stayed in lacked quality and consistency. He also realized that many budget hotels were still operating offline and were not taking advantage of the technology available to them.

Agarwal saw an opportunity to leverage technology to provide budget travelers with a better experience. He decided to create an online marketplace for budget hotels and guesthouses that would be standardized and offer a consistent level of service.

In 2013, Agarwal launched Oravel Stays, an online platform that allowed people to book rooms in budget hotels and guesthouses. The company initially started with a few properties in Gurgaon, India. However, it quickly expanded to other cities in India, such as Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi.

Within two years of launching, Oravel Stays had rebranded itself as Oyo Rooms and had grown to over 200 properties across India. The company’s success was due to its ability to standardize budget hotels and provide travelers with a consistent experience.

OYO, a brand that needs no introduction today, started off as a simple idea in 2013 to transform the fragmented and unorganized Indian hospitality industry. Within a span of a few years, the company not only became a household name in India but also managed to establish its presence across the globe. Today, OYO has over 1 million rooms in 80 countries, making it one of the world’s largest hospitality chains.

So, what does OYO stand for? The term OYO stands for On Your Own. The name aptly reflects the brand’s philosophy of providing a comfortable and reliable stay experience that makes guests feel like they are in their own home.

OYO was founded in 2013 by Ritesh Agarwal, then a 19-year-old entrepreneur, who dropped out of college to pursue his passion for hospitality. The idea behind OYO was to create a standardized and affordable hotel chain that would provide a consistent experience to travelers across India. Ritesh started with a small budget of just $5000, which he used to launch OYO Rooms, his first venture.

Initially, OYO Rooms operated as an aggregator of budget hotels, which provided standardized amenities such as free Wi-Fi, air-conditioned rooms, and clean bathrooms. Ritesh and his team quickly realized that the key to success in the Indian hospitality is to cater to the lower segment of the industry.

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