The Indian Hotels-owned Taj Group has planned to announce a new brand, to add to its current bouquet. While the name is under wraps, it is likely to be a category between their Gateway and Ginger ones.
Ginger is the budget hotel grouping, with daily room rates up to Rs 2,500. Gateway is a notch above, with rates between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000. Taj has opted for a gradation strategy in recent years. Vivanta was the last such branding exercise. Meant for the work-hard and play-hard variety, it was supposed to follow the launch of Gateway hotels in 2008, but got delayed to 2010, first because of the economic slowdown and then the November 2008 terrorist attack.
Internationally, hospitality chains, to tap into the various segments from luxury to premium to budget, offer a variety of hotels.
For instance, the Accor Group has Ibis and Novotel in the three-star and four-star category, going up to a luxury hotel like Sofitel. The Starwood group has a luxury brand like St Regis on one end and premium hotels like Meridien, Westin and Aloft on the other.
With international brands now foraying into India, the home-grown ones have felt the need to ramp up products. ITC has also considered this idea and introduced a brand like Fortune for the mid-market customer.
"Taj's Gateway has not taken off very well. The group is still in the process of fine-tuning Vivanta. These are initial stages of brand development. It will take time but that is the way, going forward," a hospitality analyst said.
A Taj Group executive had earlier told Business Standard that with the hospitality industry getting fragmented, hotels want to tap every segment of the market.
He said Vivanta had been designed keeping a specific audience in mind — one young and on the go and not wanting a typical heritage experience but something contemporary.
