Oyo saw 83% YoY growth in business travel during Apr-Nov 2022, Delhi is most-booked city

Hospitality major Oyo said that bookings in business cities increased 83 per cent between April and November this year compared to the same period last year.

The most frequently booked business city was Delhi, closely followed by Hyderabad, according to the company's Business Travel Trends Report 2022. Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Chennai were among the other top destinations for reservations.

Bookings in Hyderabad increased by 100 per cent year on year, compared to 50 per cent in Delhi. Bengaluru experienced 128 per cent growth, while Kolkata and Chennai experienced 96 per cent and 103 per cent growth, respectively.

Cities in the north include Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Panipat, Ludhiana, and Dehradun; Lucknow, Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati, and Bhubaneswar in the east; Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Coimbatore in the south; and Mumbai, Indore, Ahmedabad, and Pune in the west.

“The swing of the pendulum is now clearly visible in business travel and we are expecting this trend to continue. Demand is picking up across all key business cities, which confirms that the recovery is broad-based. In order to ensure a hassle-free stay experience for business travellers, we have introduced special programmes. Customers with corporate tie-ups can get curated stays options, strong personalised customer support and integration with their accounting system,” said Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer, OYO.

Even though business travel began to improve in January of this year, it really took off when the new fiscal year began in April. After months of virtual meetings and phone calls, many businesses choose to resume in-person interactions, said SoftBank-backed Oyo.

Younger business travellers, including recent college grads and workers who have only recently entered the workforce, as well as traders and small businesses, were crucial to the recovery process.

As work-related travel became more important for many businesses, the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) segment also contributed to growth.