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Taj group Dubai luxury hotel launch in March likely

Prakash M Swamy

NEW YORK, Dec. 24

THE Taj Group of hotels is expanding to become the largest luxury hotel group in South Asia.

Addressing newspersons here recently, Mr Gev Patel, General Manager (Sales - International Travel Division) Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, said during the last year, the group commissioned two new hotels -- Taj Exotica in South Goa and The Taj Hari M ahal in Jodhpur.

Taj has also established a presence in Pune with Blue Diamond, and in Ahmedabad with Taj Residency Ummed. The acquisition of The Taj Krishna and The Taj Residency has enhanced its presence in Hyderabad, where it has long operated The Taj Banjara.

Taj is also planning to launch a five-star luxury deluxe hotel in Dubai early 2001, at a cost of approximately $65 million. It is expecting a soft opening in March 2001 in anticipation of a 30 to 40 per cent clientele.

The Taj group had 50 properties in 34 locations throughout India and an additional 11 properties in nine key international destinations outside India, he said.

The group projects that a significant portion of its long-term growth will come from the expansion of The Taj Residency brand across India, and is actively seeking ways of strengthening and expanding this brand.

As tourism in India is largely based on attracting niche markets -- beach, golf, nature and wildlife -- the company has developed its resorts in clusters. The existing palace hotels and lodges in Rajasthan form one such cluster, as do the hotels in Agra, Khajuraho and Varanasi.

Additional clusters were being developed in Kerala and Karnataka in collaboration with the respective State Governments. The Taj Garden Retreat, Thekkady, was the latest addition to the group and a step toward completing the Kerala cluster, where six Taj hotels already existed, he added.

The group has undertaken a major renovation of the public spaces in six of its prime properties at a cost of more than $20 million, which follow a $100-million in renovations it has spent over the past several years.

The hotel currently undergoing renovation are: The Taj Mahal Hotel and Taj President in Mumbai, The Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi, Taj Bengal in Calcutta, Taj Malabar in Kochi and Taj Samudra in Colombo. These renovations are part of an ongoing plan that includes extensive recent renovations at Fisherman's Cove and Taj Coromandel in Chennai.

Hirsch Bedner Associate would manage the renovations in Mumbai and Delhi while Wilson and Associates would oversee the next two projects in Calcutta and Hyderabad, he added.

The group has recently implemented a series of plans for modernising key properties. In-room facilities were being installed with high-speed Internet access, data-ports, fax machines, two-line long-distance telephones and interactive televisions. Renovat ed hotels offered fully equipped business centres, computers for rent, video conferencing facilities, and Taj Web site allowed customers to book rooms online. In the near future, all the Taj hotels would be equipped with high-speed Internet access, known as Taj Connect, he added.