OYO Offers Cash Incentives To Japan Hotels

As reservations plummet in a country strongly impacted by the coronavirus, OYO Hotels is reportedly planning to provide funds to hotels in Japan. The startup said it will give new members an amount that is equivalent to a share of their revenue in the past year with the OYO Partner Support Program, according to Bloomberg.

The initiative is available as of now and will be in operation without a defined time frame.

“Japan is an extremely important market for OYO, and we intend to contribute to it over the long term,” said Ritesh Agarwal, the company’s CEO and founder, per the outlet. “This is our response as a global hotel group to Japan’s lodging industry in the time of crisis.”

South Korean and Chinese visitors are among those facing the most significant impacts from COVID-19, comprising almost 50 percent of Japan’s international tourists. At the same time, the tourism sector in the nation is also preparing for the probable postponement of the Summer Olympics in 2020.

OYO has grappled with business in Japan, even with the complete support and backing of SoftBank, which also endorses one of the top web portals in the country, one of the biggest wireless networks and a baseball team. OYO’s move for quick expansion in the market was plagued by rebukes from lodging properties as well as technical challenges.

As previously reported, OYO is cutting its global workforce by 5,000 people. The latest iteration of job cuts would reduce the accommodation firm’s headcount to 25,000 people throughout over 80 countries, per news earlier in March.

The staffing reductions were expected to have a large effect on OYO’s India, China and U.S. business. The firm also is looking to “temporarily” lay off 4,000 discretionary workers, some of whom will be invited to rejoin when business bounces back.