OYO and Microsoft announce strategic alliance to co-develop travel and hospitality products and technology
OYO will develop Smart Room experiences for travellers such as premium and customised in-room experiences, including self-check-in, self-KYC, IoT-managed smart locks, and virtual assistance using Microsoft Azure IoT.
Following Microsoft's strategic equity investment in , the Gurugram-based hospitality major has announced that it has entered a multi-year strategic alliance with Microsoft to co-develop "next-gen travel and hospitality products and technologies".
As part of this alliance, OYO will develop Smart Room experiences for travellers on the OYO platform, such as premium and customised in-room experiences for its guests. Using Microsoft’s Azure IoT, the experience will include self-check-in supported by a digital register of arrivals and departures and self-Know Your Customer (KYC), along with IoT-managed smart locks and virtual assistance.
Abhinav Sinha, Global COO and Chief Product Officer — OYO Hotels and 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 optimisations 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 personalisation, 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.”
OYO said that it will adopt Microsoft Azure as a key enabler to drive cloud-based innovations and reimagine the hospitality and travel tech industry. Besides co-innovating, OYO will also begin to share existing workloads with Microsoft Azure, adopt the Microsoft 365 suite for better collaboration and productivity, and switch to Github Enterprise for accelerating tech development in a secure manner. In a bid to make OYO’s technologies easily accessible across the world, the company is also working on several products to ease hotel partners onboarding.
“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.
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Edited by Kanishk Singh