Taj Exotica resort & Spa, Andamans. (Photo by vivanta.tajhotels)

MUMBAI: Vivanta by Taj will now be just Vivanta! Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), which owns the brand, has decided to reserve the Taj tag only for its luxury properties. The move is part of the company’s new CEO Puneet Chhatwal’s broader brand architecture strategy that aims to retain the identity of each of IHCL’s brands. Besides Taj and Vivanta, IHCL has two more brands — Ginger for budget hotels and Gateway for four-star properties.

Chhatwal also plans to create a new label, SeleQtions — modelled on the lines of Marriott’s Luxury Collection and Wyndham’s Trademark Collection — which will house IHCL’s quintessential properties that do not need the company’s brand tags.

For instance, The Gateway Savoy in Ooty , Vivanta by Taj President in Mumbai, Vivanta by Taj-Blue Diamond in Pune and Vivanta by Taj-Ambassador in Delhi will come under SeleQtions and will now be known only by their names, without the brand tags.

“A brand has to keep evolving. What has worked in the past, may not work now. So, you have to fine-tune things with time. But you don’t have to fix something, if it is not required,” said Chhatwal (54), the fifth CEO of IHCL since it went public in 1970. “Properties like The President or Blue Diamond are landmark hotels. They have their own distinctive brand identity. We intend to bring such hotels under SeleQtions,” added Chhatwal.

To begin with, IHCL intends to bring seven properties under SeleQtions and later, 50 more hotels will be added under the banner. It is a common practice among top global hospitality chains like Marriott, Wyndham, Choice, InterContinental and Accor to have multiple brands targeting various price points. However, IHCL, which operates 145 hotels within and outside of India, used to follow a single-brand strategy for its luxury, business and leisure properties — except the no-frills hotels.

Chhatwal said in the new brand architecture, only 25 properties will bear the Vivanta label. The company has also decided to not put resources in building the Gateway brand while at the same time, it plans to revamp Ginger — from brand logo to room design to service facilities. “We don’t want Ginger to be the cheapest, we want it to be the best in the segment,” Chhatwal said.

Launched in 2004, Ginger was priced at sub-Rs 1,000. With the proposed makeover, Ginger will be priced at sub-Rs 5,000. IHCL, through its subsidiary Roots Corporation, operates 45 Gingers in the country, but since FY16, the company hasn’t been making any money from these economy hotels.

