REPORT – WTM2005: Taj hotel group made its takeover of the iconic Pierre hotel in New York earlier this year,…
REPORT – WTM2005: Taj hotel group made its takeover of the iconic Pierre hotel in New York earlier this year,, which had been part of the Four Seasons hotel group for 25 years. The hotel’s name will be unchanged.
The task in New York is great. A great renovation is planned.
In India, the group plans to build environmentally-sustainable lodges in some of the country’s national parks; eight lodges are planned, with three due to open before the end of this year.
Separately, the group expects to have 10 of its IndiOne budget hotels open by the end of this year, and it hopes to open another 15 in 2006. Taj launched the IndiOne concept in Bangalore just over one year ago.
Taj has raised finance for international expansion. As a result it is looking to develop hotels over a wide geographical area – Australia, some Asian countries, China, Arabian Gulf, Southern Africa, and the US (such as Los Angeles or San Francisco, to support its new acquisition on the east coast). Most of these hotels would probably operate under its Taj brand name.
However, partly because of all this actual and planned expansion, the company has contracted the Landor marketing company to make a study on the group’s brandnames – which are currently a mix that could be confusing for the traveller. Landor is due to deliver its findings before the end of this year. But some published reports already indicate that Taj has plans to create a 4-star brand, keeping ‘Taj’ for its top-market hotels.
