Biz travel sees revival as OYO adds 1,250 new corporate clients since Mar

Travel tech firm OYO on Wednesday said it has added more than 1,250 corporate clients in the last three months, indicating that business travel in India may be rebounding post lifting of COVID-induced travel restrictions.

The recovery is led by small and medium enterprises, traditional business houses and conglomerates, startups, travel management companies and film production houses, which have emerged as a key customer category for OYO in recent times.

The list of top cities searched and booked by corporates include Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Pune and Delhi, OYO stated.

Small and medium businesses continue to contribute significantly to the business travel bookings as more and more people from this segment opt for physical interactions -- still a key factor for them to expand their business, the company added.

OYO's Business Accelerator division has serviced over 6,600 corporate clients since January 2021, it added.

Commenting on the growth in corporate travel, Ankit Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, OYO India said the appetite for business travel has returned strongly since the frequent change in travel restrictions has ebbed, making travel planning for business trips more certain and predictable.

"For a lot of our corporate customers, conducting business over virtual meetings was a stopgap and sub-optimal solution. Such customers are leading the business travel revival. Meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions are the other key use cases fuelling the growth of business travel," he added.