TAJ HOTELS RESORTS AND PALACES

The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) and its subsidiaries are collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, which is recognised as one of Asia's largest and finest hotel companies. Incorporated by the founder of the Tata group, Jamsetji Tata, the company opened its first property, the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, Bombay in 1903. The Taj, a symbol of Indian hospitality, completed its centenary year in 2003.

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces comprises 64 hotels in 45 locations across India with an additional 15 international hotels. The most significant additions to the Taj portfolio have been The Pierre, the iconic landmark hotel on New York's Fifth Avenue, the Taj Boston and the Blue, Sydney.

In 1993, the company established the Indian Institute of Hotel Management in Aurangabad in Maharashtra in western India.

Areas of business IHCL operates in the luxury, premium, mid-market and value segments of the market through the following:

Taj is the flagship brand for the world’s most discerning travellers seeking authentic experiences in luxury. Besides luxurious living and fine dining, Taj Hotels also promise a whole new experience of tranquility and total ‘wellness’, through Jiva Spas, a unique concept, which brings together the wisdom and heritage of the Asian and Indian philosophy of wellness and well-being.

Taj Exotica is a resort and spa brand found in the most exotic and relaxing locales of the world.

Taj Safaris are India's first and only wildlife lodges circuit, that allow travellers to experience the unparalleled beauty of the Indian jungle amidst luxurious surroundings

Premium Hotels provide the new generation of travellers a contemporary and creative hospitality experience that matches their work-hard, play-hard lifestyles.

The Gateway Hotel is a pan-India network of hotels and resorts that offers business and leisure travellers a contemporary hotel experience.

Ginger is IHCL’s revolutionary concept in hospitality for the value segment.

The other areas of business include:Taj Air, a luxury private jet operation and Taj Yachts, which can be used by guests in Mumbai and Kochi, in Kerala. It also operates airline catering services.

Joint ventures, subsidiaries, associatesTajSats Air Catering: a joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, TajSats Air Catering is the largest airline catering service in South Asia

Roots Corporation: a wholly-owned subsidiary that operates the Ginger chain of budget hotels in India.

Location IHCL’s head office is in Mumbai, India. Taj properties are located in Asia, the UK, the US, Australia and Africa.

The GATEWAY HOTEL

Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, India's largest hospitality group, has launched a new brand, 'The Gateway Hotel', a pan India network of up-scale hotels and resorts that offer travel nomads a crisp, contemporary and warm experience.

Announcing the launch of The Gateway Hotel brand, Raymond N Bickson, managing director, Indian Hotels Company, said, "India is one of the world's most dynamic and booming economies, and the Taj group, India's leading hospitality chain in the country, intends to leverage this boom and reiterate its leadership position. We are currently witnessing a shortage of world class accommodation in India. Our experience and expertise across the full range of hotel accommodation styles will be an immediate and significant answer to it."

He further added, "The Gateway Hotel will be a new brand catering to the emerging set of contemporary travellers. Gateway is a part of the Taj group's strategy to have a large footprint across India. It will be an important growth vehicle for the group, and we are looking at quickly scaling up the brand to a large number of hotels across India. It comes from the Tata and Taj group which has a host of successful brands that are hallmarks of trust, quality and assurance. The brand launches today with a portfolio of 26 hotels."

The Gateway Hotel is a brand that will cater to the emerging needs of the contemporary traveller. It offers customers the experience of flexibility, freedom and fitness. The hotels have various options that help the guest lead a smarter choice of healthy lifestyles. All key services in these hotels will work to cater to the emerging guests who have their own independent schedules.

The hotels also give the guests the freedom to be themselves, while everything they need is taken care of by the hotel. The service is crisp, courteous and informal.

Every touch point across the customer's journey has been carefully thought through to make it a relaxed, refreshing and contemporary experience. The customer experience across the hotel has been divided into zones, and special initiatives have been introduced to deliver the brand promise. The different zones are – enter, stay, hangout, meet, work, workout, unwind and explore.

The various initiatives introduced are — a 24/7 approach to all services — all key services of the hotel will be available round the clock; active foods — superfoods and low glycemic index foods for health conscious guests; eat in — a refreshed in-room dining menu; yoga mats in each room; 'wake up' — the buffet breakfast with a range of healthy and indulge options; 'explore' — the packages that let the guest explore the destinations where the hotels are located.

Landor Associates, which is one of the world's leading brand consultancies, has worked closely with the Taj team to develop the brand. The Gateway brand has an international identity. The logo is a personification of the Gateway brand values. The brand signature is a clean, legible word mark that denotes warmth, welcome and trust. Upper case typography has been used to provide a sense of security, professionalism and consistency.

The distinctive visual style is crisp, courteous, warm and welcoming, captures its values and sets it apart from the competition. The colour palette of red, grey and white gives the brand a simple, bold, stylish and welcoming look.

The Gateway Hotel will be launched through a national advertising campaign. The brand is focused on the emerging guests and their specific needs. The brand denotes success and people who are successful in their fields. The campaign highlights this angle and the various new services the brand offers. The brand celebrates the personalities of new age achievers from different walks of life and how The Gateway Hotel is the hotel brand for them.

Taj Hotels have received overwhelming interest from the hotel development community since the management showcased this brand to them. This interest is evident from the fact that 16 existing hotels are migrating today to this brand. A total of 10 new hotels have already been signed up and the management is in active negotiations for another 10. With 26 Gateway hotels already under its fold, the management is targeting 50 operating and signed hotels in the near future.

The hotels that will be re-flagged today as Gateway are at Agra, Bangalore, Calicut, Chikmagalur, Coonoor, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Madurai, Mangalore, Nasik, Sasan Gir, Surat, Vadodara, Varanasi, Vijayawada and Vishakhapatnam. New hotels have been signed up in all key metros — Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune. Other locations signed up are Jullunder, Mysore, Navi Mumbai, and Raipur and Gondia. The Taj group has aggressive expansion plans for the brand, and is open to owned hotels and management contracts. This brand will be present in all business districts and leisure locations across India.

The brand will also explore new formats under business, leisure and extended stay categories.

India is growing at a rapid pace in various ways and the group wants to ensure that it caters to all requirements of the emerging guest segments.

Ginger HOTELS

Tata group to start 50 new budget hotels

Jamshedpur, Aug 7 : Tata group, which owns luxurious Taj hotels through Indian Hotels Company Ltd, will start at least fifty new budget category hotels in the country in the next five years.

On the occasion of opening of the 20th no frills category 'Ginger' hotel of the country here by Roots Corporation Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Indian hotels, its Chief Operating Officer and Director Subhash Pani said that 50 more such hotels would be opened in the next five years all over the country.

''Of these 10 would be opened by the December 2010. These hotels with several modern facilities cost much less than five or seven ]star hotels,'' he said adding that the first such hotel was started in Bangalore in 2004.

To a query, Mr Pani said claimed that recession has had a positive effect on the no frills budget hotels because it had forced the professionals to shift to them from a much costlier five or seven star hotel, as a cost cutting measure.

Meanwhile, Tata Steel managing director B Muthuraman inaugurated the hotel in this city, known as the hub of the Tatas.

The hotel spread over 1.3 acre land with 94 rooms, is the first hotel belonging to the Tata group in this main industrial city of the country.

This is only the fifth hotel of the Ginger series in the Eastern India apart from Bhubaneshwar, Durgapur, Itanagar and Guwahati.

North India West India Ginger Hotel Haridwar

Ginger Hotel Pantnagar

Ginger Hotel New Delhi

Ginger Hotel Ludhiana

Ginger Hotel Nashik

Ginger Hotel Pune

Ginger Hotel Vadodara

Ginger Hotel Ahmedabad

Ginger Hotel Panjim Goa East India South India

Ginger Hotel, Agartala

Ginger Hotel Guwahati

Ginger Hotel Bhubaneswar

Ginger Hotel Mysore

Ginger Hotel Bangalore

Ginger Hotel Mangalore

Ginger Hotel Pondicherry (Puducherry)

Ginger Hotel Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram)

Tata Group Hotels In Cape Town & Johannesburg

With an aim to invest 1.2 billion dollar in South Africa, India-

based Tata Group has decided to set up two hotels there. It

also simultaneously plans to assemble an array of

automobiles in Johannesburg. Raman Dhawan, the

managing director of Tata Africa, claimed that of the two hotels being planned in Cape Town and Johannesburg, the

construction of the former has already started. The group had also planned to build up hotel in Durban but due to

some unprecedented problems, shunned that.

 

Besides these, the Group has also involved itself in South Africa's telecom industry. The Tata Group is in alliance

with country's telecom service provider and enjoys the position of the major share holder. Tata Consultancy Services

(TCS) is also offering its services in South Africa. According to Mr Dhawan the Group is a very diversified one as it is

also making its presence felt in South Africa's automobiles industry.

 

With a presence of over six decades in South Africa, the recent plan of the Group might turn out to be a good

opportunity to strengthen its business in the country. Also, this endeavor might open up new avenues for both India

and South Africa as far as international trade is concerned. Apart from South Africa, the Tata Group has its business

in more than 11 countries.    

Taj group opens another premium hotel in Goa

The Hindu Business Line: May 21, 2009

 

Panaji: Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces inaugurated their new premium hotel, ‘Vivanta by Taj-Panaji, Goa’, slotted in the “upper upscale” segment in the city on Thursday.

The hotel happens to be Taj Group’s fourth property in Goa, but one which offers business and leisure option to tourists in the fast expanding business hub of the State.

The new-age hotel with 170 stylish guest rooms and suites with views of the Panaji city and the sparkling Mandovi river offers eclectic entertainment, varied dining options and technological enhancements to appeal to the cosmopolitan traveller.

Kamat Construction Pvt Ltd, a reputed local construction house steered by Mr Uday Kamat, Mr Dattaprasad Kamat and Mr Ramesh Kamat, have entered into a management contract with Indian Hotels Company Ltd for its latest venture. The group has experience in the business of construction, real estate and hospitality for almost four decades.

Mr Dattaprasad Kamat said that Rs110-crore investment had gone into the hotel property.

Talking to presspersons on Thursday, Mr Vishal Singh, General Manager, Vivanta, said, “The hotel fills the market gap of a business hotel in the centre of business hub where a customer can relax as well as work at ease with a number of technological innovations available at his fingertips. It is premium business hotel with high-end work spaces.”

Reflecting on marketing strategy for a business hotel in the middle of the city, Mr Jamshed Deboo, Chief Operating Officer of Taj, said, “Given the fact that this is the fourth property of Taj in Goa, collective strength of Taj will be leveraged for selling all hotels of Taj.”

He went on to announce that the group would now look forward to developing Goa as a business destination in addition to leisure destination of international repute.

“We recognise the potential of Goa not merely as a tourist destination but as am emerging hub of business activity,” Mr Deboo remarked.

Describing their decision to go with Taj group as “well thought out" in the face of a lot of offers received by them and thanking the Taj for the tremendous support they got, Mr Dattaprasad Kamat said, “We have a few more properties and if we decide to go in for more such ventures, our preference would invariably be to join hands with the Taj Group.”

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces presents EARTH ~ Environment Awareness & Renewal at Taj Hotels gets Green Globe Certification ~

Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, today a global hospitality chain with over 75 properties in over 60 locations, has been a steward of social responsibility since its founding in Mumbai, India, in 1903. As part of India’s premier business house, the Tata Group, Taj Hotels and its holding company, the Indian Hotel Company Co Ltd, are committed to serving its many local communities by furthering education and skills training, particularly among rural populations; preserving Indian art, culture and wildlife, and promoting sustainable, environmentally sound operations.

In an endeavour to reinstate its vision and efforts to boost sustainable tourism and integrate environment management in all business areas, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces presents EARTH (Environment Awareness & Renewal at Taj Hotels), a project which reiterates the conscious effort of one of Asia’s largest and finest group of hotels to commit to energy conservation and environmental management. EARTH has received certification from Green Globe, the only worldwide environmental certification program for travel and tourism.

Taj Hotels has joined the internationally-recognised Green Globe benchmarking and certification system as an extension of its existing environmental policies. Taj Hotels has long recognised that as a leader it has an important contribution to make and a responsibility to demonstrate to others how they can be part of the fight against climate change.

Having implemented the Environmental Awareness and Renewal (EARTH) programme, a project which began as a conscious effort to commit to energy conservation and other sustainability strategies, Taj Hotels was one of the first groups to join the tourism industry in its efforts.

With environmental management gaining utmost importance across sectors and industries, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces will consciously focus on spearheading several efforts primarily in the engineering and energy conservation areas.

Currently driven by several initiatives under the Eco Taj Policy, Taj Hotels will map the best practices under EARTH and drive them across all areas of operations and new product development in the group. This also marks the Group’s efforts in continuing to build and sustain awareness of discerning customers who are socially conscious.

Green Globe will provide the EARTH project with independent and comprehensive proof of their environmental commitment through the monitoring and improvement reports Green Globe will produce for Taj Hotels each year as part of the certification procedure.

Taj Hotels commitment to sustainability has its pragmatic purposes as well With a vision to create sound environment management in its operations as well as product development strategies, Taj Hotels has always believed in improving the quality of life of the communities and has been committed to environment conservation. Caring for and protecting the environment is an essential part of corporate ethos.

About Green GlobeGreen Globe is the international benchmarking and certification programme for the travel and tourism industry based on the Agenda 21 principles for Sustainable Development endorsed by 182 Heads of State at the United Nations Rio Earth Summit in 1992. . Green Globe, is the only worldwide environmental certification program for travel and tourism with participants in more than 50 countries Green Globe is managed by EC3 Global, a subsidiary of the Sustainable Tourism Co-operative Research Centre. For more

 

STRENGTHS

1. Natural and cultural diversity : India has a rich cultural heritage. The "unity in diversity" tag

attracts most tourists. The coastlines, sunny beaches, backwaters of Kerala, snow capped

Himalayas and the quiescent lakes are incredible.

2. Demand-supply gap : Indian hotel industry is facing a mismatch between the demand and

supply of rooms leading to higher room rates and occupancy levels. With the privilege of hosting

Commonwealth Games 2010 there is more demand of rooms in five star hotels. This has led to the

rapid expansion of the sector.

3. Government support: The government has realized the importance of tourism and has

proposed a budget of Rs. 540 crore for the development of the industry. The priority is being given

to the development of the infrastructure and of new tourist destinations and circuits. The

Department of Tourism (DOT) has already started the "Incredible India" campaign for the

promotion of tourism in India.

4. Increase in the market share: India's share in international tourism and hospitality market is

expected to increase over the long-term. New budget and star hotels are being established.

Moreover, foreign hospitality players are heading towards Indian markets.

WEAKNESSES

1.Poor support infrastructure: Though the government is taking necessary steps, many more

things need to be done to improve the infrastructure. In 2003, the total expenditure made in this

regard was US $150 billion in China compared to US$ 21 billion in India.

2.Slow implementation: The lack of adequate recognition for the tourism industry has been

hampering its growth prospects. Whatever steps are being taken by the government are

implemented at a slower pace.

3.Susceptible to political events: The internal security scenario and social unrest also hamper

the foreign tourist arrival rates.

OPPORTUNITIES

1.Rising income: Owing to the rise in income levels, Indians have more spare money to spend,

which is expected to enhance leisure tourism. 2.Open sky benefits: With the open sky policy, the

travel and tourism industry has seen an increase in business. Increased airline activity has

stimulated demand and has helped improve the infrastructure. It has benefited both international

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces presents EARTH ~ Environment Awareness & Renewal at Taj Hotels gets Green Globe Certification ~

Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, today a global hospitality chain with over 75 properties in over 60 locations, has been a steward of social responsibility since its founding in Mumbai, India, in 1903. As part of India’s premier business house, the Tata Group, Taj Hotels and its holding company, the Indian Hotel Company Co Ltd, are committed to serving its many local communities by furthering education and skills training, particularly among rural populations; preserving Indian art, culture and wildlife, and promoting sustainable, environmentally sound operations.

In an endeavour to reinstate its vision and efforts to boost sustainable tourism and integrate environment management in all business areas, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces presents EARTH (Environment Awareness & Renewal at Taj Hotels), a project which reiterates the conscious effort of one of Asia’s largest and finest group of hotels to commit to energy conservation and environmental management. EARTH has received certification from Green Globe, the only worldwide environmental certification program for travel and tourism.

Taj Hotels has joined the internationally-recognised Green Globe benchmarking and certification system as an extension of its existing environmental policies. Taj Hotels has long recognised that as a leader it has an important contribution to make and a responsibility to demonstrate to others how they can be part of the fight against climate change.

Having implemented the Environmental Awareness and Renewal (EARTH) programme, a project which began as a conscious effort to commit to energy conservation and other sustainability strategies, Taj Hotels was one of the first groups to join the tourism industry in its efforts.

With environmental management gaining utmost importance across sectors and industries, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces will consciously focus on spearheading several efforts primarily in the engineering and energy conservation areas.

Currently driven by several initiatives under the Eco Taj Policy, Taj Hotels will map the best practices under EARTH and drive them across all areas of operations and new product development in the group. This also marks the Group’s efforts in continuing to build and sustain awareness of discerning customers who are socially conscious.

Green Globe will provide the EARTH project with independent and comprehensive proof of their environmental commitment through the monitoring and improvement reports Green Globe will produce for Taj Hotels each year as part of the certification procedure.

Taj Hotels commitment to sustainability has its pragmatic purposes as well With a vision to create sound environment management in its operations as well as product development strategies, Taj Hotels has always believed in improving the quality of life of the communities and has been committed to environment conservation. Caring for and protecting the environment is an essential part of corporate ethos.

About Green GlobeGreen Globe is the international benchmarking and certification programme for the travel and tourism industry based on the Agenda 21 principles for Sustainable Development endorsed by 182 Heads of State at the United Nations Rio Earth Summit in 1992. . Green Globe, is the only worldwide environmental certification program for travel and tourism with participants in more than 50 countries Green Globe is managed by EC3 Global, a subsidiary of the Sustainable Tourism Co-operative Research Centre. For more

 

INDIAN HOTELS TO RAISE CAPITAL THROUGH DEBT EQUITY

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), the country’s biggest chain operator and owner of the Taj brand, said today that it would look at various methods of raising funds to meet its future expansion plans, including setting up hotel properties in India and abroad.

Speaking to shareholders at its 108th Annual General Meeting, Chairman Ratan N Tata stated, “We are seeing various forms of raising debt, as well as raising equity from the market.”

Tata, however, refused to elaborate. The amount raised will be used to fund IHCL’s target of setting up 45 hotels, which includes an addition of more than 7,200 rooms over the next four years. The expansion will be seen across all of its existing brands such as Taj, Gateway, Vivanta by Taj and Ginger. Tata also stated that the company will spend Rs 350 crore as capital expenditure in this financial year.

He also stated that although an average of 70-75 per cent occupancy is seen across all its properties in India currently, it will be difficult to predict at what capacity it would operate for the rest of the year, considering the current economic situation.

On the company’s investment in US-based luxury hotel chain company Orient Express, Tata reiterated, “Only time will serve the purpose of our involvement in that hotel. It is not an issue of our relationship, but it is about our common purpose and attitude. I hope we can come closer with time.”

The company had earlier expressed its desire to increase its stake in Orient Express from its current holding of 9.7 per cent. However, it has no plans to doing so through a hostile takeover.

The company has also expressed keen interest in acquiring some of Orient’s properties, which are based outside the United States and, which do not form a core of the US company.

Indian Hotels' Q1 net dives

BS Reporter / Mumbai August 1, 2009, 1:25 IST

Profit

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), owner of the Taj brand (and one of the hotels in Mumbai which suffered a terror attack last year), today declared a drop of 73.2 per cent in net profit at Rs 16.44 crore for the first quarter, as turbulent economic conditions globally impacted foreign inflow into the country. The company, which is also India’s biggest hotel company, operating under four brands, had reported a net profit of Rs 61.3 crore last year.

The company’s profit before other income, interest and exceptional items stood at a dismal Rs 9.45 crore, a drop of 90 per cent as compared to the Rs 96.4 crore reported in the same period a year earlier.

Taj checks in at SEA ROCK

Mumbai june 13, 2009

Indian Hotels buys 85% in Claridges subsidiary for Rs 680 crore.

Sea Rock Hotel, one of Mumbai’s best-known landmarks since 1978, is changing hands for the second time in four years. Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), owners of the Taj properties, today said the compnay would buy the 400-room hotel located in Bandra from the Delhi-based Claridges, which had acquired the property in 2005.

Under the deal, IHCL will buy 85 per cent in ELEL, a subsidiary of Claridges, for Rs 680 crore. It will buy the entire shareholding at a later date.

ELEL holds a long-term sub-lease for the land on which the hotel is situated.

IHCL already had an arrangement with Claridges to provide technical and management expertise for the restoration and operations of the hotel.

IHCL said it would finance the acquisition of the hotel, which has been non-functional since the Mumbai bomb blasts in 1993 that damaged the property extensively, with the Rs 1,400 crore it raised in May last year through a rights issue.

Sea Rock’s landmark silhouette as well as its history will, however, be consigned to the past, with the new owners planning to demolish the structure and redevelop the area as an integrated property consisting of hotel rooms, a large convention centre, retail and commercial operations.

In a statement today, IHCL said it would integrate the newly-acquired site with its existing property at the Taj Lands End, which is located just across the road.

R K Krishna Kumar, vice-chairman, IHCL, said: “The Lands End and this new property can become a landmark in the north of this city, which will be equivalent to the Taj Palace and Tower in Colaba. We will not be able to make a full disclosure of the branding of the hotel at the moment, but it will be decided later.”

The company intends to appoint international architects for the construction of the property, which will begin soon after the multi-storeyed tower is demolished.

The company also said it would take at least three years for the new hotel to be operational, but did not disclose the cost estimate for constructing the new property.

Although company officials declined to discuss the price advantage IHCL gained from the deal thanks to the slump in property market, they confirmed that the deal was attractively priced.

“If you want a comparator, it might be significantly below the usual per square foot rate one might have to pay in that area. All we can say at the moment is that we have successfully acquired the property at a very competitive rate,” Krishna Kumar said.

Meanwhile, as an update on the company’s strategy on the Orient Express Hotels (OEH), US, in which the Tata group had acquired 10 per cent, the management at IHCL reiterated that its stand on the company has not changed.

Krishna Kumar said: “The Tata group is not interested in a hostile takeover of Orient Express. It is true that they are selling some of their properties, one of which was in Lisbon. We would have looked at only those hotels that are not a part of their core assets.”

Asked whether IHCL would increase its stake in OEH, Krishna Kumar replied, “We would, but only on a mutually agreed basis and not through a hostile bid. We are ready to wait for them as long as it takes and we will stay invested in OEH.”

Expansion under GATEWAY BRAND

Gateway Hotels, the mid-range brand of the Tata group’s Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), plans to open 12 new properties in the next two to three years.

These dozen-odd hotels will be run as management contracts and not as owned properties, according to Jyoti Narang, chief operating officer of Gateway.

The Gateway brand was created seven months ago and this expansion is part of IHCL’s effort to create space for it. Other brands owned by IHCL are Taj, Vivanta by Taj and Ginger.

IHCL, Asia’s largest hotel company, plans to have 50 Gateway hotels in India in the next few years, from about 30 at present. Of the latter, 16 used to be run under the Taj brand and were transferred to Gateway, while 10 were added later.

The company plans to invest aggressively to promote the brand through owned and managed properties, to be set up in each of the country’s business districts and leisure locations, catering primarily to the contemporary traveller.

Experts say despite the current economic slowdown that has impacted top hotel companies, both globally and here, the time is right for companies looking to introduce new brands in India.

“This is essential, as the presence of a variety of brands in India is limited, whereas consumer choices and patterns show a need for more brands. For instance, the margins of luxury hotels have taken a beating in recent times, but budget hotels and above are doing brisk business,” said an executive of a top hotel company.

Taking advantage of such gaps, global hotel chain majors like the Wyndham group, MGM Mirage Hospitality, Langham Hotels, Movenpick, Accor Hospitality and Jumeriah are launching a variety of brands that will operate at different levels.

The hotel industry is anticipating a drastic fall in foreign tourist arrivals this year due to many factors, including the financial meltdown and the recent terrorist attacks on Indian cities.

Many hoteliers have, therefore, decided to go slow on their current projects involving premium five-star and luxury properties.

However, IHCL will add 16 new hotels in the current financial year involving a total addition of 2,080 rooms. Currently the company has 86 hotels with 10,300 rooms.

The new hotels are coming up in Bangalore, Varanasi, Chennai, Vijayawada, Trivandrum and Panjim.

Meanwhile, Roots Corporation, a fully owned subsidiary of IHCL, is planning to open 21 new Ginger hotels at major locations across the country by the end of the current financial year.

Taj GROUP TO TO EXPANDSERVICED APARTMENT BIZ

6th Jan, 2009

The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), the Tata Group firm which runs the Taj Group of Hotels in the country, is set to expand its offerings by getting into serviced apartments business and by widening the portfolio of its wildlife resorts.

This is part of IHCL’s overall strategy of doubling the number of its rooms to more than 20,000 in four years by going in for a mix of greenfield projects as well as management contracts.

Sources indicate that the company is in advanced stages of exploring the opportunity of setting up about 700 serviced apartments across various cities in the current year. The company is also expanding its international presence.

“IHCL is setting up hotels in Thailand and South Africa apart from having clinched two management contracts in West Asia at Dubai and Saraya Island respectively,” a company source said.

The company is also parallely rolling out other formats for which there is latent demand. “Spas and wilderness resorts are being aggressively looked at for growth,” an industry analyst said. The company will be consolidating its spas into one brand called ‘Jiva’.

The firm is eyeing these new business segments after it encountered decent success in the budget hotel category through the ‘Ginger’ brand, dotting various small cities and towns such as Mysore, Pondicherry, Agartala, Haridwar and Durgapur. The brand is expected to add nearly 3,500 rooms.

IHCL in association with CC Africa had recently set up two wildlife lodges at Bandhavgarh and Pench in Madhya Pradesh in order to tap the huge Indian wildlife reserves. “Three more sites have been marked and are likely to be commissioned soon,” a company source detailed.

THE INDIAN HOTELS MAY LAUNCH ANOTHER BRAND SOON

Tata Group-owned Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) is likely to create another brand between the Taj luxury brand and the recently-launched Gateway Hotels to attract value tourists and expand the range of its offerings.

“We believe there is a gap in our branding strategy and we will be looking to bridge this gap in the future,’’ said Ajoi Misra, senior vice-president (sales and marketing), IHCL. The new brand will be priced between those of the Gateway and the Taj.

Launching its Gateway brand in September, the Taj Group had indicated that branding of segments will increasingly assume importance.

The pricing for the new brand will be higher than that of the Gateway and the range will differ from property to property.

The group wants to associate the Taj brand with luxury hotel chains in India and overseas. For instance, the group’s venture in China Temple of Heaven and Hainan Properties carries the Taj name. The strategy seems to be working as the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Mumbai, was listed in the overseas business hotel category by Conde Nast Traveller and the Rambagh Jaipur in the overseas leisure hotel category in Asia and the sub-continent this September. The company is keen to protect the Taj brand image as it continues to create its identity for the luxury segment.

“Differentiated brands are a need of the market now,” said Misra. “It is inevitable to build on the brand architecture as it also takes time to do something like this.”

The move towards branding and segmentation is not related to the influx of new international brands in the Indian market. In the past few years, the group has steadily implemented the value proposition with an aim to be present in all segments through various brands.

The Gateway brand was already with the company for around 20 years and was relaunched at a price point that tries to capture the young tourist audience.

“We have Ginger, now Gateway and the luxury Taj brand — another brand in the upper upscale segment will fill in the gap,” Misra said.