100 Not Out

Hotel Taj Mahal is a venerable hundred years old; by far, the first Indian owned hotel to reach the landmark. Reema Sisodia plays time traveller to profile the landmark moments of this unbeaten innings...

Much has changed since Jamsetji Nusserwanji (JN) Tata commissioned the hotel at the turn of this century. From the sleepy single hotel enterprise as described by JRD Tata, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) has spent the last one hundred years transforming itself into the largest hospitality operation in India, on the way rewriting the records many times over.
A brand that has established itself firmly on the map of the Indian hospitality industry, the Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) is changing with time, now touching across various products of the hospitality sector, such as hotels, resorts and palaces. And on the threshold of its second centenary, it continues to identify new strategies, formulate refreshed policies and introduce new approaches to meet future challenge.

Formative years
The Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai was commissioned in 1898 and opened its doors to 17 guests on December 16, 1903. In essence, the hotel is the personal dream of J N Tata, reportedly conceived after being denied entry into a then leading British hotel, The Majestic. Coming through on his promise to ‘build and operate a hotel second to none East of the Suez’, JN Tata invested the princely sum of two and a half million rupees into the ‘dream’.

From its inception the Taj was planned on a luxurious scale and guests had at their disposal the latest arrangements and contrivances, such as power laundry, electric irons, a chemist’s shop, resident doctor, Turkish bath, post office and modern sanitation. In 1933, the country’s first air-conditioned restaurant-cum-ballroom was also established at the Taj. The same year also saw the opening of the Harbour Bar, Mumbai’s first licensed bar.

The next major landmark was in 1968 when the Taj entered its ‘Take-Off Stage’. American architect Melton Bekker conceived a new tower wing, architecturally different, yet within the overall theme of the Taj motif. The Taj Intercontinental became operational in 1973.

Through the years
But a series of expansions had already started two years earlier beginning 1971. The foundation stone for this phase was laid when the company’s then chairman A B Kerkar, negotiated with and convinced the Maharajahas of Udaipur and Jaipur to convert their palaces into hotels which the Taj would run leading to the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur and The Lake Palace Hotel in Udaipur.

The early ’70s was also when the Fort Aguada Beach Resort, Goa was started. The then chief minister of Goa personally discussed the project feasibility with the company’s decision makers. In 1974, the Taj Coromandel, Chennai and Fisherman’s Cove, Chennai was set up.

The period between 1977 and 1987 is said to be the golden decade of the Taj group as far as expansion is concerned. Says Subir Bhowmick, chief operating officer & senior vice-president, luxury division, who has been with the company for the last 35 years, “From the late ’60s, there was no looking back for the group. The group also pioneered numerous concepts in F&B like the introduction of Schewzan cuisine, first 24-hour coffee bar, etc.”

Change In Guard
The next watershed year for the Taj group was 1997 with a change in guard. The properties, divided region-wise, were now categorised under three distinct brands namely Luxury, Leisure and Business, each with an individual chief operating officer at its head.

Camelia Panjabi, former marketing director, who was with the chain for 35 years till May 2001, says, “Segment branding of the various properties took place in the year 1993-94, though the formal trifurcation took place only in 1997. The company spent around Rs 100 crore on the refurbishment of the luxury brands before actually coining the term ‘luxury brands’.”

The new levels of competition also saw a change in business strategy. Instead of going in for more properties existing ones were renovated. Also, new systems were put in place; for example, all the features in luxury hotels were standardised, etc.

Changing the face of the F&B across properties and introducing new attractions in the form of Taj premium packages are also part of the new ventures. Says Jamshed S Daboo, chief operating officer, Leisure Hotels, The Indian Hotels Co Ltd, “We have been continuously evolving and upgrading our products and services. The concentration is more on value add-ons and offers, apart from geographic expansion. Concentrating on domestic tourism, tapping first time five-star guests, offering packages that can be converted into repeat clientele is part of our new strategy. We have recorded a growth rate of 25 per cent over the last two years.”

100 and beyond
For the future, the Taj group is looking at product upgradation for properties across all brands. New F&B outlets have been introduced in in various properties. Some outlets are being revamped and new cuisines are being introduced.

The concept of spas and wellness centres has also become a part of business plans. These have been recently opened at properties in Chennai, Goa and Kerala. Expansion plans, especially the setting up of Business Hotels in the north, is also on. Shashank Warty, chief operating officer, Taj Business Hotels, says, “Providing value add-ons in terms of state-of-the-art business facilities are topmost on our list of priorities. We have also recently introduced wireless internet facilities for guests.” Adds Daboo, “With these new initiatives, we are targeting a new profile of travellers.”

The company also recently made inroads in Madhya Pradesh by setting up a new property in Gwalior. Wellington Mews, the company’s service apartments project, is slated for an opening in August 2003. At the recently acquired property in Mumbai, Taj Lands End, plans are on to add four more floors to the existing property. The additional 44 rooms would also be in the nature of service apartments. The company’s property in Maldives
has also been made operational recently.

Wah Taj
From one hotel in 1903, today the chain has 10 hotels under the Luxury brand, 18 under the Business Hotel brands and around 24 under the Leisure Hotels category. More will certainly follow. All in all, the next 100 years promises to be very different from the preceding ones.

Footsteps In The Sands Of Taj

• In 1971-72 the company floated a shareholding company called the Indian Resorts Company Ltd for properties based in Goa. Apart from this Taj also formed a company called Oriental Hotels for its expansion in the South in which it got an NRI group called Reddys to come up with 27 per cent investment and the land. IHC put in another 27 per cent and the rest was subscribed by the public. Oriental Hotels now controls the Fisherman’s Cove in Chennai, the Taj Malabar in Cochin, Kerala, and the Sea Pearl Hotel in Vishakapatnam.
• The company’s foray in the international arena took place in the ’70s, with the setting up of the Asian Resort and Restaurant Association Ltd (ARRA) in Hong Kong by the Tata Enterprises Overseas (TEO), a Tata subsidiary based in Zurich. The proposal was to find customers for IHC’s services abroad. Among the hotels that had responded were Al Ghubra Guest House of the Sultan of Oman and the Taj Sheba Hotel in Sana, Yemen. By 1981, ARRA with the help of IHC had built up a corpus of nearly US$ 1.5 million. In the early ’80s, ARRA with some US based NRIs acquired its first property, the 740-room Lexington Hotel in New York for US$ 35 million. This property was recently sold by the company for US$ 110 million.
• The Taj Air Catering Unit was established in 1976, which, according to sources, garnered around 70 per cent of the market share of the air catering business. Recently the company sold of 50 per cent of its share in Singapore, receiving Rs 92 crore in return.
• In 1994-95, the company through GDRs (Global Depository Receipts) sold 10 per cent of the Indian Hotels Company for US$ 86 million and thus liquidated most of their debts.
• The ’90s also witnessed the entry of the Taj Group in smaller Indian towns and tourism spots. A company called Gateway Hotels and Gateway Resorts came into existence.