Taj Group of Hotels' major revamp plan

By Our Staff Correspondent

MUMBAI, NOV. 27. The Taj Group of Hotels is undergoing massive renovation programme at their leisure properties across the country. The renovations are part of the repositioning exercise that began last year with the luxury properties in Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Hyderabad.

Mr. Jamshed Daboo, chief operating officer, Leisure Hotels, The Indian Hotels Co. Ltd., while speaking at a press conference here today said, ``The first phase covered the major metros and a few key leisure hotels. We have gone in for a complete makeover of the lobby and rooms as also service of all our leisure hotels.'' Mr. Daboo said the investment in the renovation activity had been around Rs. 55 crores over 30 months.

Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces comprise 50 properties in 34 locations throughout India and an additional 11 properties in nine key international destinations outside India.

The luxury division - the top end - of Taj Hotels covers 10 properties - 7 in India, and one each in London, Dubai and Colombo. These account for a large part of the revenues of the group. The Leisure division contributes about 20 per cent of the revenues. Mr. Daboo said there was only a marginal upward revision in tariffs in those properties where the renovation was undertaken.

Some of the main resorts that are being renovated are Fort Aguada Beach Resort (Goa), Taj Exotica (Goa), Taj Malabar (Cochin), Fisherman's Cove (Chennai) and Lake Palace (Udaipur).

Also, under the brand of `Taj Holidays' the group is promoting its leisure destinations in India for the forthcoming holiday season. The `Taj Holidays' programme for this season is targeted at the domestic market specifically and is designed to provide a complete holiday experience at optimal costs.

The group is known for the number of hotels that are located in key holiday destinations, offering a choice of beaches, palaces and cultural centres.

The Taj Holiday offers several schemes that are now under way including three nights for the price of two, special bed and breakfast offer, two rooms for the price of one, extra nigh free at Taj International Hotels, special tie-ups with airlines, cellphone companies and large stores, unbelievable Sri Lanka offer and the zero per cent EMI scheme with select banks. The group has also developed special niche products to suit the needs of individual group like Romantic Holiday offer, Wildlife offer, pilgrim package and singles vacation.

The company is also launching the Taj Kid's Club in the next few months. It is aggressively promoting its packages - Best of Kerala, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Nilgiris.

Mr. Daboo said post September 11, the occupancy had been impacted but the group has ``consciously been focusing on the domestic market for the last one year. If other hotels are affected 50 per cent, we have been affected 15-20 per cent and have been able to weather the situation better. We are looking at a market share of 40 per cent in the 4-star leisure segment.''

Regarding a revival in the fortunes of the industry, Mr. Daboo said, ``We are not sure when there will be a pick-up. The market has bottomed out and there should be some recovery post- Christmas. But early-January 2002 onwards we are looking at a definitive pick-up. It must be realised that even during these difficult times, in our properties in Goa, Kerala and Rajasthan, there was no real drop in occupancies.''

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