India: Hospitality chain OYO Hotels and Homes has appointed a new independent member of its board of directors.
Troy Alstead, former COO of Starbucks and current board member of Topgolf, Harley-Davidson and Levi Strauss and Co, will join in a supervisory manner, providing advice and guidance to the founder.
Alstead began working for Starbucks in 1992 and led the brand’s growth from small northwest coffee chain to global market leader. He currently serves as the president of Seattle hospitality property Ocean5 and farm to table restaurant Table 47.
In his remit as an independent member, he hopes to primarily advise founder Ritesh Agarwal on growing to global scale.
He told BW People: “OYO, with its unique asset-light business model and strong data capabilities, is creating something entirely new for more than 3 billion middle-income travellers and city dwellers who need accommodations that meet their standards and also their budgets. I look forward to working with Ritesh, the management team, and my fellow board members as OYO strives to become the world’s most beloved and preferred hotel brand,”
Alstead joins a board full of a variety of prominent business leaders. This includes Betsy Atkins, CEO of Baja Corp and early Ebay investor, and Gerry Lopez, operating partner at SoftBank and former CEO of Extended Stay America and AMC Theatres.
Agarwal said: “We are delighted to welcome Troy to OYO’s board of directors. Troy brings tremendous operating and governance experience that will help us continue delivering on our mission to help millions of middle-income people around the world gain access to quality accommodations at different price points.
“As we continue to grow and to deepen our relationships with asset owners and consumers around the world, we are fortunate to have seasoned professionals like Troy on our board of directors.”
This news comes during a complicated week for OYO, which has been heavily affected by the global pandemic. The company has furloughed a significant number of staff and has cut pay by 25 per cent for employees in July.
