Market
Barring the odd twist, the leisure
industry in India has been on a speeding
roller coaster. Supported by aggressive
promotions and the development of
infrastructure, the tourism business
has had a spectacular rise. In 2008,
5.3 million tourists came to India while
9 million travelled abroad. During the
same period 600 million Indians took
300 million trips within the country
(Source: Ministry of Tourism).
Such has been the momentum that
has been developed that by 2020 it is
estimated that India will account for 50
million outbound tourists (Source:
World Tourism Organisation) – many of
who will also use domestic hospitality
facilities during their travel itineraries.
These extraordinary numbers have
resulted in a frenzy of investment
activity. While budget brands are tipped
to grow exponentially the world over, the luxury
space in India will see a proliferation of brands
by 2010.
With 65 hotels in over 45 locations across
India, the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces
dominate the Indian market. From worldrenowned landmarks to modern business hotels
and idyllic beach resorts to grand authentic
Rajput palaces, each Taj property offers a fusion
of warm Indian hospitality, world-class service
and modern luxury. Additionally, its fifteen
international properties have also marked their
impressive presence in the US, the UK, Australia,
Maldives, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Africa and
the Middle East.
Achievements
As India’s flagship brand, The Taj Group, with
reason, has been felicitated at scores of forums
in India and abroad.
The Taj Group has been recognised as the
sixth Best Employer in India during 2009 by
Hewitt Associates and Outlook Business, with
81% employees stating that future career
opportunities at the organisation look good.
In April 2009, Taj was chosen as one of the
five Indian firms among the world's 25
'unsung' innovative companies in Business
Week Magazine.
Individually, Taj properties, too, have reaped
accolades. The jewel in the crown and flagship
property of the group The Taj Mahal Palace &
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Tower, Mumbai symbolises the best of Indian
hospitality. With its historic architecture and
world-class amenities and service, it is the
foremost Indian luxury hotel. The multitude of
awards to its name only support that claim.
In September 2009, the readers of Condé
Nast Traveller voted Rambagh Palace as the best
hotel in the world. In 2009, it was ranked 16th
in the ‘Top 25 City Hotels in Asia’ category
of the T+L USA – World's Best Awards in
August 2009.
The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai also
featured in the Hotels 2008/09 – Top 100
hotels; the CNT, USA Gold List Best Places to
Stay in the World and the DestinAsian Readers'
Choice Awards 2009, where it was named the
Best Hotel in Mumbai. It was also ranked first in
the list of Asia's Best Hotels in Individual Cities.
Other awards for the Taj Mahal Palace &
Tower, Mumbai include the National Tourism The
Pride of India Award; the 2009 Tablet Hotels
Selection Award – Hotels Worldwide Honored
for Excellence in Industry, the T+L USA World's
Best Awards – Top 15 Resorts in Asia category
and Top 100 Hotels in the World. The Robb
Report Luxury Hotels listed the flagship hotel
of the group amongst 100 Ultimate City
Escapes Hotels in the Asia-Pacific region and
Travel+Leisure placed it amongst the 500 Best
Hotels in the World.
The Asiamoney Travel Poll 2009 accorded
the Taj Mahal Hotel the accolade of The Best
Business Hotel in New Delhi.
The Tatler Travel Guide called Umaid
Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur and the Taj
Lake Palace in Udaipur amongst the
world’s best 101 hotels within the
Crazy Beautiful section, subtitled
Monumental Palace with a
Serious Wow Factor.
The Taj Lake Palace has
featured for four successive
years while Umaid
Bhawan Palace for
two, in the Condé
Nast Traveler
USA, Gold List.
The Taj Exotica Goa won the Condé Nast
Traveler, USA Reader's Choice Award – Best of
the Best Top 100 in Asia. The hotel was
felicitated as one amongst the World’s 100 Best
Spas by the Condé Nast Traveller, UK – Readers’
Spa Awards 2007. In the South, Taj Malabar,
Cochin was ranked 18th in the 10th Condé
Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards, UK –
Overseas Leisure Hotels: Asia and the Indian
sub-continent.
The safari lodges designed around authentic
and interpretative wildlife experiences have
been appreciated the world over. Pashan Garh,
Panna was featured in Condé Nast Traveler, USA
Hot List 13th Annual 140 Top New Hotels. Taj
Baghvan, Pench, was listed in Condé Nast
Traveller, UK – Gold List 2009 World's Best
Hotels – Asia – Best for Facilities.
The Taj Exotica, Maldives was featured in
Luxury Travel Magazine's Gold List 2008 –
Australia – Best Overseas Resort and Best
Overseas Spa Maldives.
In January 2008 all three of the Taj US hotels,
The Pierre in New York, Taj Boston and
Campton Place in San Francisco featured in the
T+L 500 Best Hotels in the World. The Pierre
was further recognised as one of the top 25
hotels in New York. Taj Boston found a place in
the Institutional Investor Magazine Survey of
September 2008 – The World's Best Hotels
2008/09 and in the Gold List 721 World’s Best
Places to Stay by the Condé Nast Traveler, USA.
Campton Place, San Francisco, California, was
recognised in Forbes Traveler 400, USA – The
World's Very Best Hotels and Resorts selected
by the world's most distinguished board of
travel experts.
History
The Taj is one of India’s great iconic brands.
Conceived in 1899, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel
ushered in its first seventeen guests on 16th
December 1903. Sitting on the southernmost
tip of the country’s prime commercial city,
overlooking the harbour, the Taj was designed to
complete Bombay – and give it a hotel that
would deservedly put the city on the
world map.
The Taj was a giant dream. It was sketched to
absorb the latest advances and technology the
world had on offer: electricity, an apothecary, a
Turkish bath, an air-conditioned ballroom and a
discotheque. Every one of these – without
exception – was a first for the hospitality
industry.
The charm and comfort of this hotel drew to
its fold the country’s maharajas, business
luminaries as also the leaders of the Indian
freedom movement. The Taj, quite simply, was an
institution in the making.
Long after India had gained independence,
the Taj continued to dominate the hospitality
industry. It was, in fact, the growth and
expansion of the Taj that actually triggered
interest in Goa, Rajasthan and Kerala as tourist
centres and put these destinations on the world
travellers’ map.
Product
Travel and tourism is composed of different
categories of people. To cater to their needs the
Indian Hotel Corporation (IHC) – owners of
the Taj brand – operates hotels in the luxury,
premium, mid-market and value segments.
Taj – luxury full-service hotels, resorts and
palaces – is the company’s flagship brand. It
replicates for the world’s most discerning
travellers seeking
authentic experiences,
luxuries they are
accustomed to. The
hotels in this category
span world-renowned
landmarks, modern
business hotels, idyllic
beach resorts,
authentic Rajput
palaces and rustic
safari lodges. Each Taj hotel attempts to
reinterpret traditional hospitality and
create unique experiences and lifelong
memories.
The Taj Exotica is the company’s resort and
spa brand. Veiled in idyllic locales, these very
special properties re-define privacy and intimacy.
The Exotica group of hotels are differentiated
by a product philosophy and service that
is unique to the Taj and is designed to
complement the environment. The high-end
accommodation takes comfort to a new level
while its eclectic culinary surprises leave a guest
asking for more.
Taj Safaris are wildlife lodges that allow
travellers to experience the rustic beauty of the
Indian forest where light filters through a canopy
of towering trees and exotic birds flit through
its branches. Teeming with animals, the jungles
around Taj Safari resorts offer India’s first and
only wildlife luxury lodge circuit and provide
guests with the ultimate, interpretive, wildlife
experience.
Premium Hotels – premium full-service hotels
and resorts – is the Taj response to the new
generation of travellers who work hard and play
hard. What sets these properties apart is their
contemporary and creative hospitality, stylish
interiors, innovative cuisines, hip bars and an
unmistakable focus on technology.
The Gateway Hotel is an upscale, mid-market
full service property. A pan-India network of
Gateway hotels and resorts offers business
and leisure travellers a hotel designed, keeping
the modern nomad in mind. At a Gateway
Hotel things are kept simple but the inimitable
Taj touch can be seen in the impeccable
service and the little touches typical of this
proud brand.
If the hotels are the soul of the Group then
its restaurants and bars are its heart. Through a
vast repertoire of award-winning restaurants,
legendary recipes from royal kitchens and
celebrated food festivals, the
Taj has pioneered innovation
in cuisines across its hotels.
From intercontinental
delights like Mediterranean,
French, Italian and Japanese
to traditional fare from the
regional kitchens of India, Taj
restaurants serve it all.
Unwinding at the Taj is
very special. The Taj Spa is
the only truly Indian spa
brand in the world offering
unique Indian spa therapies
inspired by the ancient
wellness heritage of India
and the fabled lifestyle of
Indian royalty. Ayurveda,
yoga, meditation and aromatherapy are offered
to guests by traditional physicians, using exotic
natural Indian ingredients.
The Taj is fully in sync with changing lifestyles
and the pace of work its guests keep. The
Group offers an executive jet service, Taj Air,
with three Falcon 2000 jets to choose from.
Plush, comfortable, equipped with a satellite
telephone system, facsimile, individual DVD
screens and a music system, the aircrafts are
ideal for flying to any destination within a
radius of five-and-a-half flying hours in India
and abroad.
For those who are more
earth bound, the Taj can put
together a private party on
the sea. Taj yachts are floating
luxuries equipped with a bar, a
Following the
successful management
of The Pierre, New
York and the opening
of the Taj Boston, the
Group also acquired
the Campton Place
hotel located in the
heart of San Francisco.
The hotel is regarded
as a sanctuary for the
sophisticated traveller,
providing an elegant,
quiet and intimate
boutique atmosphere.
In its first venture in
Australia, Taj acquired
the W in Sydney and
re-launched it as the Blue. Taj Hotels further
expanded their global footprint by securing
management contracts at Doha, Phuket, Cape
Town, Johannesburg, Abu Dhabi and the Palm
Island in Jumeirah, Dubai.
Promotion
To create awareness for this very distinguished
brand, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has used
focused marketing activities and client relations
management. A very special initiative has been
the newsletters, Taj Magazine – Coffee Table and
Spice. Resplendently designed and superbly
printed it covers new developments, product
launches, events and food festivals. The
newsletter is mailed out to loyalists, the media,
high-profile executives, decision-makers and
potential guests.
Brand Values
dining area, a
separate
lounge and
three airconditioned
bedrooms. A
dinner under
the stars or an
overnight
cruise is an
experience
to remember.
Taj clients have another touch point with this
fabled brand: Taj SATS. In a joint venture with
Singapore Airport Terminal Services, a subsidiary
of Singapore Airlines, this is the largest airline
catering service in South Asia.
Recent Developments
For a Group more than one hundred years old,
the Taj shows a great deal of agility, youthful
spirit and innovation. Throughout the company’s
expansion, its mandate has been two-fold: to
infuse a sense of Indian heritage and culture
within each diverse property, while also
anticipating the needs and desires of the
sophisticated traveller. Over the years, the
Taj has won international acclaim for its quality
hotels and its excellence in business facilities,
services, cuisine and interiors.
Each new development at the hotel is an event
in itself. So the obvious question that arises is
that why does the Taj, more than one hundred
years after it was launched, continue to
fascinate, charm and draw such attention.
The answer possibly lies in the fact that the
Taj symbolises the renaissance of a culture
several thousand years old. Each launch is,
therefore, the rediscovery of a new facet that
would otherwise have been lost to history.
In the Taj, it finds a protective haven to once
again grow and flourish.
www.tajhotels.com
Things you didn’t know about
The Taj
The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, which stands
opposite the Gateway of India, in Mumbai, was
constructed before the Gateway of India itself
Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces is the largest
hotel brand in South Asia
Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur is one of the most
photographed hotels in the world
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