 | “We looked at it hard and decided that the Gateway could stand on its own feet without carrying the baggage of the Taj.” _ Ajoy Misra |
Subscribe to The Hospitality Knowledge & Career E-Mag |www.hospemag.com by Email
Click here to make money from your cellphone>
Ajoy Misra, Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing), Indian Hotels Company
The hotel major wants its new business-class set of hotels to be unencumbered by the Taj connection..
The brand was launched with a portfolio of 26 hotels, which has expanded to 30 hotels (18 up and running, 12 new projects; currently 1,500 rooms, 2,000 more on way) and in the short term it will have 50 hotels, spanning a range from smaller cities to metros.
There are many, points out Jyoti Narang, COO, Gateway Hotels, who feel intimidated by the Taj brand; so to appeal to a more youthful audience, the Gateway had to get more informal while retaining the warmth of the Taj. “We have come a long way in becoming more informal; we are not completely there yet. One of the biggest issues was how to make the brand less hierarchical; the traditional Taj brand is more formal,” she says.
complete article | http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/2009/04/30/stories/2009043050110300.htm