Oyo Hotels & Homes brings head of India and South Asia on to board

Oyo Hotels & Homes brings head of India and South Asia on to board

Aditya Ghosh appointed to drive sustainable growth for the business globally

Indian hospitality company OYO Hotels & Homes has appointed its chief executive for India and South Asia to its board of directors.

Aditya Ghosh joins founder and group chief executive Ritesh Agarwal and Betsy Atkins, founder and chief executive of the Baja Corporation on the board.

It also includes other industry experts like Munish Varma, managing partner and investor SoftBank Vision Fund, Bejul Somaia, partner at Lightspeed India Partners Advisors, Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director of Sequoia Capital India Advisor.

Agarwal said: “Aditya’s strong business acumen, problem solving capabilities, passion for building an organisation with strong corporate governance and a high performing work culture that thrives on principles of diversity and inclusion, makes him the perfect choice for this larger and more strategic role, at a global level.

“I am certain that this decision will greatly help OYO achieve its goals, globally.  Like always, we are blessed to have leaders like Aditya who continuously step-up to bigger roles to ensure the company derives benefits from their wealth of experience in such a critical juncture of not just growth, but principled growth for the company. His learnings will be invaluable for all of us.”

Ghosh said: “I am thankful to the board for inviting me into the august group to further build OYO as a global brand to reckon with, by not just growing fast, but growing right.

“You may have heard me repeat this past year, that one of the biggest characteristics about OYO is the opportunity that we have to create a truly global brand out of India – one that is recognised and respected the world over for positively impacting the lives of thousands of employees, creating millions of economic opportunities as well as delighting millions of guests with hospitality experiences across multiple price-points.

“The opportunity is all this and more, as we aim to set new standards of corporate governance and build a sustainable business at scale, with a clear path to profitability.

“I am, therefore, excited and keen to play a larger role and harness my experience in helping a public company operate well and ascribe to high standards of sustainable growth.

“I hope to actively impact the ability of this 20,000-plus OYOpreneurs strong organisation, around the world, to achieve its mission and work with some of the sharpest minds across various industries who are part of OYO’s venerable board, to guide the company, as it delivers against its values and promises to all stakeholders.”

OYO says its investment in strengthening its corporate governance has been seen in the recent appointment of Atkins, an investor in Yahoo and eBay, and Ghosh’s promotion.

During his time running Oyo in India & South Asia Ghosh he oversaw a more than doubling of the asset owner community from 5,500 to 18,000 hotels.

In his new board role, Ghosh will “provide strength of governance and leadership as OYO evolves into a truly global high performing company that scales sustainably on the path to profitability with higher expectations from consumers, asset owners, investors and employees”, the firm said.

Ghosh will focus on five key areas: safety and security, customer experience, corporate governance, revenue management and stakeholder communications.

OYO also announced the appointment of Rohit Kapoor, the current chief executive, New Real Estate Businesses as the chief executive for the India and South Asia business.

Over the last year, Kapoor has been overseeing the growth of OYO LIFE – the brand’s long-term rental housing portfolio as well as other new real estate businesses in India.

Kapoor said: “This is a great opportunity as well as a humbling responsibility and I thank Ritesh and Aditya for the trust and confidence placed in me.

“Given the impressive performance of the hotels’ business in India and South Asia, I do have some big shoes to fill. I will do my best and Aditya has promised to be my guiding light in the process.

“In the last one year, the performance delivered, has been tremendous in not just scaling operations across 500 cities and 18,000 hotels but also delivering on sustainable growth with financial prudence.

“I look forward to working with Aditya and Ritesh during the transition period and also working with each one of the 10,000-strong OYOpreneur community in India and South Asia as we lead  by example and set new standards of excellence for OYO and the hospitality industry at large.”