Taj to open 50 hotels under The Gateway Hotels banner

Luxury hospitality chain Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, part of the Tata Group's Indian Hotels Company, today announced the launch of its new mid-range hospitality brand, The Gateway Hotel, which would have 50 properties under the brand in the "near future."

The group plans to transfer 16 existing properties, and 10 new three-star hotels under The Gateway Hotel. It said hat it was under active negotiations for 10 more properties. With 26 Gateway hotels already under its fold, the management is targeting 50 operating and signed hotels in the near future.

''The Gateway Hotel will be a new brand catering to the emerging set of contemporary travellers," said Raymond N Bickson, managing director, Indian Hotels. He said the new brand is a part of the Taj Group's strategy to have a large footprint across India.

"It will be an important growth vehicle for the Group and we are looking at quickly scaling up the brand to a large number of hotels across India.''

The hotels that have been brought under the Gateway banner are at the group's existing properties at Agra, Bangalore, Calicut, Chikmagalur, Coonoor, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Madurai, Mangalore, Nasik, Surat, Vadodara, Varanasi, Vijayawada and Vishakhapatnam.

The new Gateway properties to have been signed up are located at Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and at other locations such as Jullunder, Mysore, Navi Mumbai, and Raipur and Gondia.

UK brand consulting firm Landor Associates, has worked closely with the Taj team to develop the brand  and give it a global identity.

Taj Group has aggressive expansion plans for the brand and are open to owned hotels and management contracts. This brand will be present in all business districts and leisure locations across India.

The Gateway Hotel will be launched through a national advertising campaign and will focus on the emerging guests and their specific needs. "The brand denotes success and people who are successful in their fields," the company said in a communique. The brand will also have new hotel formats under the business, leisure and extended-stay categories of the emerging guest segments.