Taj Group’s Gateway Hotels Launches New Property, Forays Into Leisure Segment

To cater to the demand of rising upper middle class, the Gateway Hotels of Indian Hotels Company Limited or popularly known as Taj Group Company has forayed into the resort segment of the hospitality sector. The company has launched its first resort property near Damdama lake in Haryana.

“India’s tourism potential is unmatched in terms of its uniqueness, culture and heritage. The industry has become one of the key growth drivers for the economy generating employment. The rapid increase in domestic as well as foreign tourists has created a need for developing newer destinations and innovative service offerings; a concept that the Taj has pioneered in India.” said Rakesh Sarna, CEO and managing director of Taj Group.

For this project, Gateway has partnered with Dhoot Group to create the resort and positioned it to cater both families as well as corporate customers. “An investment of Rs 100 crore has been made in the property,” said Prabhat Verma, COO of The Gateway Hotels & Resorts.

Keeping in mind the environment, the hospitality giant has gone eco-friendly while erecting the structure and the artwork primarily includes scrap metal sculptures, embroidered and hand printed textiles, and studio ceramics. “We have tried to give it a rural essence and that is why we have totally gone local as far as artwork is concerned. We want our customers to enjoy the natural beauty and therefore on the design front, we have totally been natural. The resort is first of its kind because it has been right next to a mega city,” he stated.

At present, the Gateway property has 25 operational properties across India including the recently launched Gateway resort near Damdama lake.

Verma told BI India that the property has been operational since May 19, 2014 and has had over 50 corporate events. “We have received a tremendous response from the visitors here. We will be launching three to four new properties in the next fiscal year. Two of them include one in Corbett and the other in Theog near Shimla,” he averred.

Interestingly, until now, Gateway Hotels have been positioned as an upscale corporate hotel for business travelers. However, with the launch of the new resort, the hotel has forayed into the leisure hotel segment.