Expressnews
CHENNAI: Global travel technology company, OYO, has launched a program to recognize hotels that provide the most consistent and high-quality customer experience. The category called ‘Super OYO’, constantly analyses each hotel’s performance on multiple parameters such as customer ratings and reviews, keeping maximum rooms operational consistently, smooth check-in experience, among others.
Consumers can now see hotels marked ‘Super OYO’ while booking through the OYO App. Currently, there are around 200+ Super OYOs available on the site and the company will encourage other hotels on its platform to work towards achieving this highly selective moniker and becoming a part of this exclusive category.
In line with the company’s mission to double down on trusted and best-in-class customer experiences, Super OYO is one of the multiple programs OYO is working on to help customers find choices for the kind of stay they are looking for, provide relevant information to make an informed choice and ensure comfortable and hassle-free stays at highly competitive prices. Super OYO is now available to all app users in India and is set to be launched across key global markets in 2023. OYO customers can easily access the Super OYOs category from the home screen by clicking on the Super OYO banner that leads to a dedicated Super OYO store, select their destination city and browse all available hotels.
While appealing to guests, this new category also recognises hotel operators (patrons) who go above and beyond to provide exceptional customer experiences. Since only hotels that meet predefined parameters can be recognised as ‘Super OYO’, these properties are required to maintain an average rating of 4 and above, ensuring zero check-in issues, low cancellations and minimal negative feedback. Since the tag is a non-paid category achievable by maintaining excellent customer experiences, hotel owners can create a niche for their hotel in the market.
Talking about OYO’s commitment to enhancing customer experiences, Ritesh Agarwal – Founder and Group CEO, OYO said, “Over the last few months, as travel resurged, our customers gave us a lot of constructive feedback. One of the questions I always get is, when staying in a city where multiple OYOs are available, which is the ‘best OYO’. So today we are announcing ‘Super OYOs’. The best OYOs by experience, location, analysis of thousands of reviews and verified experiences. For our customers, you get the best of the best OYOs and for our owner patrons’ they get higher returns on their assets. Just download the OYO App and hit the Super OYO widget on the home screen.”
He added, “Over the next few months, we will continue to launch initiatives to make customer journeys smoother – right from more tailored products, better digital experiences, and faster turnaround for all travellers.”
As per App Annie, the OYO App is the world’s third most downloaded platform globally in the travel category. So far, the app has been downloaded across geographies by more than 100 Mn+ users, with a majority based in India. Since the pandemic, a permanent shift in consumer behavior has rewired consumption patterns, leading to the adoption of a renewed value system – especially when it comes to travel decisions.
During this time, OYO has worked towards building a more nuanced, updated, and easy-to-use app that catered to the post-pandemic consumers’ interests. To make customer journeys smoother, OYO has launched several tags and highlights such as Trip Type, Long Stays, Check-in Ratings, Super OYO, among others. The new revitalized app also includes a brand-new user interface and improved features for smoother navigation, clear transparency with no hidden terms and conditions. The OYO app is now 50% faster, allowing users to load the home page within just 1.9 seconds. Check-in ratings offers consumers greater transparency so that they can make informed choices while booking hotels. Further, OYO’s loyalty program ‘Wizard Plus’ offers free room nights after every 5 stays.
The company is also embarking on an initiative to install a contemporary version of the ubiquitous OYO signboards on the fascia of select OYO hotels.
