Exclusive: why Ovolo is betting on brand
Back in his school days, Shivang Jhunjhnuwala and his siblings spent their evenings doing homework at the offices of Ovolo Hotels in Hong Kong, fielding the occasional question from their parents, Girish and Sarika, seeking their opinion on a business matter.
But after leaving school and university, Shivang opted to carve his own path in the creative worlds of video production and art. That was until two years ago when, prompted by some words of encouragement from his sister Avni, he decided to get involved with the family business.
After all, hospitality runs in his veins.
“Being born and raised in a hospitality family, it’s in my blood,” Shivang tells Wayfarer.
“Us Indians believe that when a guest enters your home, you treat them like God. That idea is deeply ingrained in us culturally, and I think we’ve also brought that a lot to the brand.
“My family gave me the ability to get a great education, have a warm bed and a roof over my head – this is my opportunity to give back, and that’s something that I feel a tremendous amount of pride towards.”
On the topic of working with a family business, Shivang says there are three questions one should ask themselves:
“Number one, do you see a future in the industry? Number two, is there something that you believe only you can bring to the table and add value to? Lastly, and most importantly, is it something you will wake up in the morning excited to do every single day? If the answer is yes, for all three of those, don’t think twice, jump on in.”
Today, as Chief of Staff, Shivang acts as the connector between hotel teams and his father.
“My role is to work with our various teams and departments in different regions to analyse our pain points, come up with solutions for them, and then present them to him as recommendations,” Shivang explained.
Over the last two years, the business has undergone many significant changes. In July 2023, it launched a dedicated investment and asset management arm, TriO Capital. Since then, the owner-operator has offloaded a number of its properties, including The Woolstore 1888 in Sydney and The Inchcolm Hotel in Brisbane.
Last year, Founder Girish resumed the CEO role following the departure of Dave Baswal, and a strategic partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), which later partnered with Hilton, brought Ovolo hotels to a broader global audience.
Ovolo Hotels’ latest franchise deal with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is set to take the brand even further.
Five Ovolo hotels across Australia and Hong Kong – Ovolo Central (Hong Kong); Ovolo Nishi (Canberra); Ovolo South Yarra (Melbourne); Ovolo The Valley (Brisbane); and Ovolo Woolloomooloo (Sydney) – have joined the Wyndham hotel brand, in a move that aims to accelerate brand growth across Asia Pacific.
“We still own all these properties, we still operate all of them, and we still own 100% of the brand,” Shivang explained.
“This partnership allows the brand’s footprint to grow while also tapping into the power of Wyndham’s distribution and loyalty program.”
Shivang says there are several reasons why the partnership works. One being that it provides an opportunity for Ovolo to stand on its own as a boutique lifestyle brand within the portfolio, leveraging Wyndham’s global reach and infrastructure.
“They are a publicly traded company with more hotels in the thousands (9000+) than we have keys in the hundreds (~1000 keys),” Shivang explains.
“Wyndham’s brands – Ramada, La Quinta, Tryp etc. – sit in a different category altogether. There’s a white space to sell a boutique lifestyle brand like Ovolo.
“At the same time, they have 110 million members in their loyalty program, Wyndham Rewards, that have been yearning for a product like this.
“Wyndham is very strong in franchising and, if I may say, we are the experts in boutique lifestyle brands, which is something that the Ovolo team has built from the ground up.
“It’s a symbiotic relationship, because we know each other’s strengths, we know each other’s weaknesses, and this is where we can help both grow in the best interest of each other.”
Shivang says the five Ovolo hotels joining Wyndham are the best representation of the Ovolo brand and how the group wants to see it develop under this exclusive licensing deal.
Sitting outside of that are unique brands, Laneways by Ovolo in Melbourne, Mamaka by Ovolo in Bali, and South Side by Ovolo in Hong Kong, for which Ovolo intends to explore different opportunities.
The Wyndham deal aligns with Ovolo Group’s strategy to channel its focus into its key areas of expertise.
Speaking to its four business functions – as an owner, operator, asset manager and brand – Shivang says, “we would love to keep doing all four, but growth opportunities are limited.”
“We want to become experts in one or two of those areas,” he says. “Of course, we enjoy the ownership of assets, and we enjoy asset management, but we also know how much value Ovolo the brand brings to the world of hotels, so we really want to focus on that component.
“That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to be acquiring assets in the future. However, it also means that it’s not only on assets we acquire that the Ovolo brand can manifest itself.
“On the operation side, one of the other beautiful things about working with Wyndham is that there is a possibility of managing those franchised properties in locations where we have operational expertise, like Australia, Hong Kong and Bali.”
As for the future of the Ovolo brand, Shivang sees plenty of opportunities in international markets.
“South East Asia and Greater China are two areas where we foresee a lot of growth as a brand. India has a lot of growth opportunities for boutique lifestyle brands, and I think Ovolo would be the perfect brand to enter that market.”