Hotel chain Oyo on Friday announced that it had reached out to the embassies of more than 15 countries, in a bid to provide accommodation for stranded tourists, travellers, essential service providers or others.
“In a bid to keep our promise of 'Atithi Devo Bhava', we have reached out to 15+ embassies to provide accommodation support to stranded tourists, frontline medical staff, aircrew, corporates, those affected by the pandemic & need a safe place to stay. #InThisTogether #CoronaRelief,” the company tweeted.
“The company is focusing on a two-pronged strategy to minimise the possibility of infection and maximise social distancing and hygiene. Certain hotels are being identified to partner with hospitals for setting up safe, pay per use quarantine facilities. Certain others are focused on providing safe shelter to local and foreign tourists and travellers who are stranded in cities owing to the lockdown,” Oyo Hotels said in a tweet.
In a bid to keep our promise of 'Atithi Devo Bhava', we have reached out to 15+ embassies to provide accommodation support to stranded tourists, frontline medical staff, aircrew, corporates, those affected by the pandemic & need a safe place to stay. #InThisTogether #CoronaRelief pic.twitter.com/QmS1m2m6SA
— OYO (@oyorooms) April 3, 2020
The company cited multiple instances where its facilities were used to benefit stranded foreign tourists. The Head of the Trade and Investment Office, Embassy of Brazil, Gustavo Westmann, said that Oyo hotels had provided solutions to Brazilian citizens with “different budgets in different locations around the country” and that they appreciated the efforts promoted by Oyo.
The Embassy of Chile said that the Oyo team had been reachable throughout the crisis and that they were grateful for their efforts.
The Royal Thai Embassy said that Oyo had helped with the embassy’s request to open doors to stranded Thai nationals. Another example was shared about a female tourist from Belgium who was stranded in Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, and was given accommodation after the Oyo Team was contacted by the Belgian Embassy.
According to a news report, Oyo had reached helped foreign tourists from the US, Brazil, Belgium , Portugal, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Indonesia and had set up a quick response team to understand the requirements of stranded tourists in tier 1,2, and 3 cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Rishikesh, Pondicherry, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, and Jalandhar.
Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Group CEO, OYO Hotels and Homes, said: "These are testing times for the world and we at OYO too have been deeply impacted by COVID-19. Both revenues and occupancies have dropped. Our commitment to the community at large remains, however, remains unflinched and we want to do everything possible to ensure we can provide reliable accommodation to persons stranded”
"As a hotel chain, it is our responsibility to demonstrate 'Aatithi Devo Bhava' during these testing times. We are grateful for the efforts of each and every professional whose role requires them to be at the forefront of India's fight against COVID-19 and we want to do our bit in this fight," he added.
The Ministry of Tourism has set up a dedicated website to helping foreigners stuck in India: strandedinindia.com.
