India’s Taj Hotels sets sights on Palm Jumeirah anew

The Mumbai-based company announced the 207-room Vivanta by Taj at Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai last year. The property is expected to be ready in three years as well.

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Sananda Sahoo

India’s Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has set its sights on operat­ing a property on the Palm Jumeirah once again.

The hotel operator, which had to scrap a project on the man-made island announced in 2006, will open its first property there in 2019.

Its 325-room, five-star Taj Exotica Resort and Spa on the western crescent of The Palm will be owned by the Dubai-based real estate company Arenco Group.

The Mumbai-based company announced the 207-room Viv­anta by Taj at Jumeirah Lakes Towers in Dubai last year. The property is also expected to be ready in three years.

“The markets of focus for Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces in the region are Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar and Bahrain,” said Chinmai Sharma, the chief revenue officer at Taj Hotels resorts and Palaces.

“We are looking at expanding in regions such as the Middle East and North Africa, South East Asia and greater China – essentially in regions that are important feeder markets into India or are important outbound markets where Indians love to travel.”

India will remain its focus market as domestic demand continues to grow, he said.

The company has 85 hotels in India, and 16 overseas including in the US, the UK, South Africa, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal.

The Tata Group, which owns Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, opened the 296-room, five-star Taj Dubai in Business Bay last year.

The Indian Hotels Company and its subsidiaries is collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.

Hotel room inventory in Dubai, meanwhile, continues to grow with an eye on Expo 2020.

Dubai’s Emaar Hospitality this week announced that it will open at least 10 hotels and hotel apartments in Dubai within the next five years.

Emaar Hospitality operates four hotels and two serviced residences in Dubai under The Address Hotels and Resorts brand and two hotels under Vida ­Hotels and Resorts.

Dubai had about 82,760 rooms as of the end of March, according to the research company STR.

ssahoo@thenational.ae

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