TravTalk India Online Magazine
Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, IHCL, believes that tour operators are a vital part of their business as they chart a growth trajectory under which they are opening different properties across their brands, and ensuring ‘to serve’ the community as part of their ethos.
Nisha Verma
Puneet Chhatwal recently participated in a panel discussion at the 36th IATO Convention held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat where, while discussing how hotels can walk hand-in-hand with tour operators, he agreed to give a dedicated promo code for IATO members to get rates for all IHCL properties in advance to quote to their FTOs in time.
Proud partners
Claiming that tour operators are an integral part of their business, Chhatwal said that they are an important source of international and domestic business for them. “As an industry, we have been able to overcome the worst, which we feel is behind us. I think there will be volatility in the short term, but eventually, the sector will emerge, as history has proven,” he claimed.
Navigating the pandemic
While different companies have adopted different strategies to stay afloat during the pandemic, Chhatwal says that they have followed a very strong multi-brand strategy. “Today we have a portfolio of 230 hotels, of which 177 are in operation. Recently, we launched a property entirely run by women—our extended stay product, Taj Wellington Mews, Chennai. Every month we open 1-2 of our homestays—amã Stays & Trails. Within two months, we will have reached a portfolio of 60. Our recently launched home delivery platform, called Qmin, is now present in 20 cities. Overall, especially with the Ginger brand, there are aggressive growth plans. We are proud of the way company has progressed.”
Ethos to serve
He also acknowledges that COVID has deterred their progress. “Some of our performance has been diluted, but we also indulged in the community service, based on the philosophy of the founder of the Tata Group, who believed that the community is not just another stakeholder, but the purpose of the existence of every business. We are proud of how we stood up to the occasion, served more than five million meals, hosted more than 100,000 bed nights and raised Rs. 70-80 crores. By taking salary cuts, we paid for all the contractual staff of different contractors who worked with us and were laid off. Hence, despite being hit financially, the pandemic gave us opportunity to reimagine, reinvent, restructure ourselves, and serve,” he elucidates.
He highlighted that Taj was rated as the world’s strongest hotel brand. “This shows that the market has given us a thumbs up on our values. Taj stands for trust, awareness, and joy, and what better time to have trust in our brands,” he claimed.
Up and Coming
Claiming that they are bringing out new products almost every day, Chhatwal informs, “We just signed a contract for another Taj Wellington Mews. We are on track to deliver one hotel a month, which can also become 1.5 or 1.3 hotels a month, depending on the lockdown or construction bans. We are a rapidly growing company, changing our business model every day.”
Brand identification
Despite being lauded for its branding strategy a few years back, under which IHCL hotels were divided into a couple of sub brands, the company today is following a different path. “We have moved away from the strategy of a brand house where there was a bit of Taj in everything. Now, one wouldn’t see the Taj connotation with any of our brands, whether it’s a salon, a spa, or a home delivery. One principle we maintained, is that in whatever segment we are positioned in, we must be premium. Just like Taj is premium in luxury, and this is the principle being followed without attaching the Taj connotation to any of these brands, ” he shares.
