Hospitality major Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces plans to open at least five properties under its Vivanta by Taj brand this fiscal, according to a top official of the company. Currently, the group has 21 hotels under this brand that is positioned as an upper-upscale product.
“This year, we have opened two properties — Srinagar and Bangalore. We have five more properties coming up in Hyderabad, Bekal (North Kerala), Coorg (Karnataka), Coimbatore, and Gurgaon this year and another in Dwarka by 2012-end,” said Mr Veer Vijay Singh, Chief Operating Officer, Vivanta by Taj, at the launch of the third Vivanta by Taj property in Bangalore.
The 327-room Yesvantpur property, spread over 3.5 acres, has come up at an investment of Rs 230 crore, excluding land. At Bangalore, the Taj Group has over 1,100 rooms across brands — the Taj (luxury), Vivanta by Taj (upper-upscale), Gateway and Ginger (budget). Of these, over 700 rooms are fall under the Vivanta by Taj brand.
“We are trying to go to unique locations such as Srinagar, Bekal and Coorg for resorts,” he added. The property at Bekal will be opened in November or December this year.
According to Ms Deepa Misra Harris, Vice-President – Marketing, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, the company plans to increase its footprint across brands and “continue its domestic dominance”.
Mr Singh said there is more growth in the upscale and upper-upscale hotels and “you will see a lot more hotels coming up in these segments”. The company is already looking at other cities such as Amritsar, Nagpur and Guwahati and “we are looking at another 10 hotels in the next three years,” said Mr Singh.