Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, historically an India-focused hotel company, has identified the Middle East as a growth market, with prime attention on Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
"It is important for Taj to grow in regions that are important feeder markets into India, or are important outbound markets where Indians love to travel. From a global standpoint, Taj's presence in the Middle East is significant for us, given the successful launch of Taj Dubai, and we are only looking to make this stronger through expansion," Chinmai Sharma, chief revenue officer at Taj Hotels, said during the Arabian Travel Market.
Taj has two hotels in the pipeline, including the 207-room Vivanta by Taj, at Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai, a hotel to be owned by Signature Zinc Holdings, and a 325-room Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, at The Palm, Dubai, developed by Arenco Group."
Sharma said other focus markets include Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Muscat, Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, and Bahrain.
Taj first entered the Middle East in 2015, with the 296-room Taj Dubai, in the Burj Khalifa Downtown.
"Taj Dubai has opened to great acclaim; we have seen a tremendous response from both the GCC as well as global travelers and the hotel is seen as a showcase for us to expand further into the region," said Sharma. "This year looks very promising and encouraging and we are looking at clocking in a healthy growth in both occupancies and revenues. Currently we are doing approximately 70 percent occupancy and this trend should continue."