 "OYO")
Global hospitality major OYO on Friday said that it will add 500 new hotels across several host cities of the upcoming Men’s Cricket World Cup. Yhese will be added over the next three months to meet the anticipated increase in booking demand.
The tournament, which will begin on October 5 and conclude on November 19, will take place in the cities of Hyderabad, Delhi, Dharamsala, Chennai, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Pune. The final will be played in Ahmedabad. The new hotels will be strategically located near these stadiums.
The participating teams include those of India, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Afghanistan.
OYO says it has also witnessed a significant surge in demand for the duration of the tournament. The price of air tickets around match days to host cities have also shot up significantly.
“Travel demand automatically goes up whenever the dates for a marquee cricket tournament are announced-such is the magic and power of this sport that binds millions together. We want to ensure that everyone who is travelling from far away to watch their favourite teams has access to a comfortable and affordable accommodation,” said an OYO spokesperson.
This comes after OYO reported positive EBITDA in every quarter of FY23, which was the first year of profits since the firm’s incorporation in 2012. The company expects to remain EBITDA positive for FY24 as well.
In March this year, OYO had refiled its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the stock market regulator SEBI under the recently introduced confidential pre-filing route. A source close to the company told Business Standard that the company will be fine-tuning the issue size basis the prevailing market conditions to between $400 to 600 million - all of which would be a primary issuance to repay most of its debt.
