HBI Staff | Hyderabad 
OYO has concluded the acquisition of Europe -based holiday homes operator Bornholmske Feriehuse through its subsidiary DanCenter, as a part of its endeavor to expand as a preferred full-stack vacation homes provider. Bornholmske Feriehuse, which has over 700 homes on its platform, is based out of Bornholm island in Denmark and expected to clock more than 250,000 guest nights in 2022.
The acquisition underlines OYO’s commitment to ‘Invest in Denmark’ towards accelerating the growth of travel and tourism in the market. ‘Invest in Denmark’, an integral part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark helps attract and retain foreign investments in Denmark by providing a customized one-stop service for foreign companies, looking to set up or expand a business in Denmark. During his visit to Denmark, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized on the need to cement India-Denmark ties by exploring ways to expand multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.
OYO already owns brands such as Belvilla (Belvilla by OYO), DanCenter, Traum Ferienwohnungen, among others in Europe through its subsidiaries. The acquisition in Bornholm will strengthen OYO’s presence in Europe broadly and Denmark specifically.
Voted as Europe’s second best holiday island by the Condé Nast Traveler, Bornholm is one of Europe’s most sought-after holiday islands. Bornholm is called “the sunshine island” due to extended hours of sunlight, the island is also known for its sustainable focus, gourmet food, a fantastic nature comprising kilometer-long white sandy beaches and picturesque cliffs and an exciting history that differs from the rest of Denmark. In recent years, the island has experienced rapid development with increasing tourism income and visitor numbers. According to Visit Denmark’s latest Destination Monitor, Bornholm last year experienced an increase of more than 15 percent in the number of overnight stays on the sunny island compared to the same period in 2020.
Bornholmske Feriehuse was founded in 2002 by Rasmus Lund and Jacob Lund. It has 737 holiday homes exclusively spread over 30 holiday parks. Bornholmske Feriehuse is a full stack operator providing end-to-end solutions to the homeowners.
OYO has a strong footprint in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Croatia amongst others. Aligned to this, OYO had recently concluded the acquisition of Europe based company ‘Direct Booker’ which has over 3200 homes and serviced 2 million customers so far.
Anne Hougaard Jensen, Director, ‘Invest in Denmark, said “Invest in Denmark is pleased to support the continued investment from OYO. Investments in the tourism industry is important for the Danish economy, creating many direct and indirect jobs. Denmark offers good framework conditions for foreign investors and the opportunity to link local knowledge with international connections and expertise. We are happy that OYO chooses to grow its vacation home business out of Denmark.”
Talking about India-Denmark Relations, H.E. Freddy Svane, Danish Ambassador to India said, “The relationship between India and Denmark has never been stronger. Tourism and Culture plays an important role in building bridges between people and nations and I hope that this investment by OYO Rooms into the island of Bornholm will enable visitors to experience the strong focus on sustainable tourism in the region.”
Speaking on the acquisition, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Group CEO, OYO said, “I feel elated as we welcome Rasmus and integrate Bornholmske Feriehuse under the brand OYO. Bornholm exhibits great potential for tourism in the coming years. We are happy to extend cooperation to the ‘Invest in Denmark’ initiative and work for the development of tourism in Bornholm and Denmark.”
Rasmus Lund, Director of Bornholmske Feriehuse said, “Our guest nights have broken records in recent years, and the demand from foreign guests in holiday homes has been particularly high. The collaboration with OYO through DanCenter A/s therefore gives us the opportunity to keep up with demand, just as our homeowners also benefit from the many online portals that DanCenter collaborates with. The agreement may help our many holiday home owners achieve a higher rental percentage, while also contributing income and jobs to Bornholm.”
Rasmus Lund will continue as director of Bornholmske Feriehuse and will grow operations further.
In the coming time, the holiday homes from Bornholmske Feriehuse will become available for booking through more than 130 online portals with which DanCenter works closely. At the same time, Bornholmske Feriehuse now has a larger capacity of holiday homes, which is a positive addition to the concept, which until now has primarily had holiday apartments and holiday centers as its focal point.
