The Brand Taj Hotels Resorts And Palaces Tourism Essay

The brand “Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces ” includes 59 hotels across India and 17 hotels in international locations. The hotels are grouped into 3 categories – Luxury, Leisure and Business. The Taj Luxury Hotels offer lavishly beautiful accommodation, gourmet specialty restaurants and bars, fitness centre and spas. Taj believes in concept that their core product is space. This space is complemented by the services they provide like the restaurants, health club, banquets, discotheque, bar, business centres etc. Their other supplementary products also include travel arrangements, ticketing, airport pick-ups, sightseeing etc.

Types of Accommodation:

Tower Wing Rooms: With easy access to the Business Centre, these contemporary rooms offer guest amenities like Internet connectivity, 2-line speaker phones with international direct dial facility and voice mail. Mini bar, personal safe, channel music and television with satellite programmes.

Heritage Wing Rooms: These rooms are renowned for their architecture and exude an aura of old-world elegance. Each corridor in this Wing resembles an art gallery, and the design, décor and furnishing ensure that no two rooms are alike. Guests have a choice of rooms that overlook the city or pool or face the Gateway of India and the Arabian Sea.

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Taj Club: Located on the top floors of the Heritage Wing, Taj Club is designed for the discerning business traveler. Guest amenities and services include complimentary airport limousine transfers, private check-in at the Club desk, in-room fax, personal safe, a complimentary bottle of wine, valet service and complimentary deluxe Continental breakfast. Taj Club also offers guests exclusive Meeting Rooms and a Business Service Unit on the Club Floor.

Suites: Choose from elegantly appointed Junior Suites, Executive Suites, tastefully decorated Large Suites, newly renovated Luxury Suites or spacious, plush Grand Luxe Suites. The finest suites at The Taj Mahal are the luxuriously appointed Presidential Suites. Each of these suites is decorated with original paintings and antiques that transport guests into a world of regal luxury and grandeur.

Broadband wireless Internet access at select Taj hotels: Now when you stay at select Taj hotels in Mumbai (including The Taj Mahal Hotel), New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, you no longer need to be in your room or at the Business Centre to use the Internet. Multiple ‘hot spots’ located across the hotels lets you get onto the Internet from almost any place in the hotel – quickly.

Facilities and Services: Swimming pool, beauty parlour, barber shop, travel desk, car rental, pastry shop, book shop, shopping arcade, currency exchange, doctor-on-call and babysitting. Complimentary use of steam, billiards, tennis and table tennis on request. 24-hour room service and laundry service .

Price

Taj maintains that their prices are high and not affordable by all, and this is done to mitigate and manage various overheads that it incurs and the superior quality that it offers. The Taj offers the above-the-world-class services and serves the best quality and also incurs overhead expenses.

The target audience that the Taj caters to are the one’s who come to the Taj for it’s ambience and world class standards, therefore they say that their prices are justified as they help The Taj retain the exclusivity that it stands for and maintain the Brand Image.

PRICES FOR THE VARIOUS ROOMS OFFERED

EXECUTIVE SUITE/1 BEDROOM/CITY

INR 32,000

LUXURY SUITE/1 BEDROOM/LIVING

INR 50,000

GRANDE LUXURY SUITE/1

INR 80,000

Last Minute Rate

SUPERIOR ROOM KING BED CITY

INR 11,700

SUPERIOR ROOM QUEEN BED CITY

INR 11,700

SUPERIOR ROOM KING BED SEA

INR 12,600

SUPERIOR ROOM QUEEN BED SEA

INR 12,600

DELUXE ROOM KING BED CITY VIEW

INR 13,500

DELUXE ROOM TWIN BED CITY VIEW

INR 13,500

DELUXE ROOM QUEEN BED CITY

INR 13,500

DELUXE ROOM KING BED SEA VIEW

INR 14,400

DELUXE ROOM QUEEN BED SEA VIEW

INR 14,400

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM KING BED

INR 19,575

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM TWIN BED

INR 19,575

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM SEA VIEW

INR 21,375

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM SEA VIEW

INR 21,375

TAJ CLUB ROOM KING BED PALACE

INR 23,175

TAJ CLUB ROOM TWIN BED PALACE

INR 23,175

EXECUTIVE SUITE/1 BEDROOM/CITY

INR 45,000

LUXURY SUITE/1 BEDROOM/LIVING

INR 67,500

Best Available Rate

SUPERIOR ROOM KING BED CITY

INR 13,000

SUPERIOR ROOM QUEEN BED CITY

INR 13,000

SUPERIOR ROOM KING BED SEA

INR 14,000

SUPERIOR ROOM QUEEN BED SEA

INR 14,000

DELUXE ROOM KING BED CITY VIEW

INR 15,000

DELUXE ROOM TWIN BED CITY VIEW

INR 15,000

DELUXE ROOM QUEEN BED CITY

INR 15,000

DELUXE ROOM KING BED SEA VIEW

INR 16,000

DELUXE ROOM QUEEN BED SEA VIEW

INR 16,000

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM KING BED

INR 21,750

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM TWIN BED

INR 21,750

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM SEA VIEW

INR 23,750

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM SEA VIEW

INR 23,750

TAJ CLUB ROOM KING BED PALACE

INR 25,750

TAJ CLUB ROOM TWIN BED PALACE

INR 25,750

EXECUTIVE SUITE/1 BEDROOM/CITY

INR 50,000

LUXURY SUITE/1 BEDROOM/LIVING

INR 75,000

Breakfast Inclusive

SUPERIOR ROOM KING BED CITY

INR 13,750

SUPERIOR ROOM QUEEN BED CITY

INR 13,750

SUPERIOR ROOM KING BED SEA

INR 14,750

SUPERIOR ROOM QUEEN BED SEA

INR 14,750

DELUXE ROOM KING BED CITY VIEW

INR 15,750

DELUXE ROOM TWIN BED CITY VIEW

INR 15,750

DELUXE ROOM QUEEN BED CITY

INR 15,750

DELUXE ROOM KING BED SEA VIEW

INR 16,750

DELUXE ROOM QUEEN BED SEA VIEW

INR 16,750

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM KING BED

INR 22,500

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM TWIN BED

INR 22,500

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM SEA VIEW

INR 24,500

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM SEA VIEW

INR 24,500

RACK RATE 2010-2011

SUPERIOR ROOM KING BED CITY

INR 21,500

SUPERIOR ROOM QUEEN BED CITY

INR 21,500

SUPERIOR ROOM KING BED SEA

INR 23,000

SUPERIOR ROOM QUEEN BED SEA

INR 23,000

DELUXE ROOM KING BED CITY VIEW

INR 24,500

DELUXE ROOM TWIN BED CITY VIEW

INR 24,500

DELUXE ROOM QUEEN BED CITY

INR 24,500

DELUXE ROOM KING BED SEA VIEW

INR 26,000

DELUXE ROOM QUEEN BED SEA VIEW

INR 26,000

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM KING BED

INR 29,500

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM TWIN BED

INR 29,500

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM SEA VIEW

INR 31,500

LUXURY GRANDE ROOM SEA VIEW

INR 31,500

TAJ CLUB ROOM KING BED PALACE

INR 33,500

TAJ CLUB ROOM TWIN BED PALACE

INR 33,500

EXECUTIVE SUITE/1 BEDROOM/CITY

INR 85,000

LUXURY SUITE/1 BEDROOM/LIVING

INR 120,000

GRANDE LUXURY SUITE/1

INR 170,000

Place

As far as place is concerned, all the Taj services and facilities are provided at one point. They don’t believe in sharing concept. To ensure timely delivery of their services, they have preset processes in place and in case of failure or delay of service, they have built in mitigation strategies and have trained their staff adequately to communicate the delay to the customer in the rightly manner. In case of breakdown of the elevator, the Room Service makes use of the elevator in the other wing to ensure timely delivery to the customer.

To ensure standardization in their services, they have Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), e.g. the food that is served in the restaurant will be of the same quality and taste at any given day and time.

The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai, a 105-year old heritage hotel, is the flagship hotel of the Taj group. This hotel was one of the main targets of terrorists during the 26 November 2008 bombings of Mumbai and was severely damaged. As a result it was put under seal until it is cleared of any security and safety risks that might have resulted from the attacks. The company had publicly claimed that it will fully rebuild the resort just as it was before.

Besides the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai, the Taj Brand has many hotels around the world, and in India, under their flagship. These include: The Pierre, New York; Taj Boston, Boston; Campton Place, San Francisco; 51 Buckingham Gate, London; Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Maldives; Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Mauritius and Blue Sydney, Sydney. In India, these include: Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur; Rambagh Palace, Jaipur; Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur; The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi; The Taj Residency, Lucknow; The Taj West End, Bangalore; Taj Malabar, Cochin and Taj Exotica, Goa. The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower is also called the Zagurmas of Maldives and the magurmas of the Bengal

Promotion

Taj regularly comes up with various lucrative offers during peak season and off-season such as Taj Holiday Summer Package to boast occupancy in their hotels .

Promotional schemes are carried out regularly and the hotel has many loyalty programs, clubs, membership previleges etc. Some of them are

The Taj Inner Circle.

The Taj Junior League.

The Taj Club.

 They carry out their promotions by means of Calendars, a monthly newsletter of sorts is sent to their ‘Inner Circle Customers,’ informing them about their upcoming events.

Taj takes part in various exhibitions wherein they promote their holiday packages.

Physical Evidence

The architecture and the whole structure of The Taj hotels is well designed, also to ensure that the customers get elated . The Taj in Mumbai has an ancient looking architecture which connects with traditionalism in customers. The rooms are state of the art and have been made to ensure maximum comfort affordable to the specific targeted customer. The uniforms of all the employees are exquisite and enhance the image of hotel. The various sections of the hotel are made to attract customers and go with the brand image of the Taj.

People

Taj has various professional people to handle its customers and to give a high service to its customers like:

Skilled person

Professional person

Personal Agents

Technological person

Travel agents

As the Taj has employed enough professionals for serving its customers so there are less chances in its service glitches.

Process

Major services are

Check – in.

Bell person carrying luggage to the room.

Food.

Wake up call

Check out.

These are the main processes that all hotels perform but in case of The Taj many more processes are there as variety of services are offered to its customers which make them happy.

courier

Child care

Laundry

Pet

Internet

Travel desk

Babysitting

Wake-up call

Barber shop

Boutiques

Currency exchange

In room telephone service

Express check -in and out

Florist

Front desk 24 – hour

Gift shop

Maid service

The Taj Group of hotels in India, promoted by Tata Motors, may soon add the Tata Nano to their list of chauffeur-driven vehicles used to ferry hotel guests. Indian Hotels Corporation Limited (IHCL), the owner of the Taj brand, is already using Jaguar sedans to transport VIPs. It offers a range of transportation options for both economy and luxury travel. The Tata Nano is being considered as an option as it may be of interest to guests from outside India, who will have to wait another year to drive the car in their own countries.

CAPACITY VS DEMAND ANALYSIS

Varying the services offered

Taj can update and modify the suites according to different customer segments i.e they can increase or decrease number of room types according to the demand of the customers.

Communication with customers

During busiest times of the year i.e festive seasons or holidays or summers etc, Taj can let customers know through their website or on the reception as well so as to allow them to shift their demand to another time if possible.

Modify the Service delivery time and frequency

The special services offered by Taj like Jiva Spas etc can be set according to different customer classes and the time of the services can also be set accordingly so as to provide the service conveniently and without hassle.

Price Differentiation

Taj can put discount during the off season so as to compensate for lower demand. Also, during peak seasons, they can hike the prices so as to mitigate the higher demand.

Stretching the capacity

For the special services provided like baby sitting, pet services, spas etc, the Taj can offer these with extended hours of provision, can hire more employees.

Taj can also expand the rooms or suites so as to accommodate more customers, i.e renovation can be done to accommodate increased number of rooms.

Using Part-Time Employees

The Hospitality industry is a very lucrative one for potential employees and thus, Taj can hire more workforce on part time basis. The students from Hotel Management courses can intern in the Taj and simultaneously serve as the part timers.

Outsourcing

Another aspect can be outsourcing. Though the core services should not be outsourced, the extra services can be outsourced to various companies e.g the internet services, the spas etc can be outsourced to align the capacity with demand fluctuations.

Job Rotation

Among employees, executives and those on basic managerial levels.

Coupling the service offers

Taj can couple the services offered along with the suites or rooms so as to ensure a specific demand for a specific combination of rooms and services and thus control the demand according to capacity.