PERSONALITIES
the aftermath of the 26 / 11 terror attacks in Mumbai . After the second wave , IHCL served an additional 1.4 million meals under the QMin brand , according to Chhatwal .
Besides functioning as a food delivery service in 16 Indian cities , a QMin food truck was recently launched in Mumbai .
FUTURE OF WEDDINGS At any given time , weddings play a major role to boost revenue for IHCL . With its picturesque hotels in top locations , Taj hotels perform well among Indians , expatriates as well as foreigners looking to get married at an exotic destination . However , since March 2020 , strict COVID protocols in India that restrict the guest list to only 50 persons , have been a cause of concern . Chhatwal says the lockdown meant no elaborate weddings at the hotels , as the ceremonies were conducted at people ’ s homes on a very small scale .
People , however , have eventually found a hack to bend the rule . “ Indian weddings are fancy weeklong social events . While the number of guests is capped to 50 , hosts are smart enough to invite different sets of guests for each of the ceremonies that take place across several days , ultimately taking the total number of guests to more than 100 ,” Chhatwal says . “ While this trend is temporary , people still spend the same amount of money for weddings .”
MORE OFFERINGS IHCL recently reopened the iconic Chambers – the exclusive members-only club – in the recently refurbished Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi . The uber luxury , private business club has enjoyed patronage from an illustrious group of people since it was first started over 40 years ago . Currently , Chambers is in operation across seven cities , including Dubai , and the eighth is soon to open in London . Two more are in the pipeline – one each in Bengaluru and New York .
Chhatwal is also upbeat about 7Rivers Brewpub , which was launched late last year in Taj MG Road in Bengaluru in partnership with AB InBev , the world ’ s largest brewer . The first-of its-kind brewpub also has an on-site microbrewery . It is the only brand IHCL doesn ’ t own and only operates . Nonetheless , it plans to scale it to 10 to 15 in other Taj properties , Chhatwal says .
IHCL is also known for its exotic jungle safaris and lodges . While these are quite sought-after , it ’ s still a small and evolving business , Chhatwal adds .
“ Jungle safaris and lodges build a halo around the business , but it ’ s still a small business . We have just 10 properties and 150 rooms and we are trying to expand it . It ’ s still five years from maturity .”
WAY FORWARD Chhatwal is confident of the hotel industry ’ s resilience and IHCL ’ s performance . Talking about the Taj hotels ’ strengths and plans of expanding their portfolio , he says they are in a comfortable zone despite the pandemic hampering business for months .
“ Our plan for 2025 was to have 250 hotels in operation and 300 as the total portfolio ,” Chhatwal says . “ Today , our total portfolio is 221 hotels , of which 54 are in the pipeline and 167 in operation in India and abroad . IHCL signed 17 hotels and opened seven new hotels in FY 2020-21 , a record for the industry .”
Ginger , their chain of “ lean luxe ” budget hotels , has been driving growth . There are 78 Ginger hotels today , of which 58 are in operation , and Chhatwal is aiming for a portfolio of 100 . He is also focusing on Ama and hopes to achieve a portfolio of 100 Ama properties by the next fiscal year .
He said IHCL ’ s pipeline in India is about 50 hotels and roughly 16 homestays . In the pipeline of hotels , almost 50 % will be driven by the Ginger brand and the rest by Taj , Vivanta and SeleQtions . It also plans to increase the footprint of QMin to cover 25 cities . “ More importantly , our strategy is to own and dominate certain markets like Goa , Mumbai , New Delhi , Bengaluru and Chennai ,” Chhatwal says , adding that the
88 hotelsmag . com September / October 2021