Indian Hotels Company, the company which owns and runs the majority of the Taj brand of properties in India and abroad, has a ambitious growth plans ahead. Raymond Bickson, managing director, spoke to Swaraj Baggonkar. Edited excerpts:
You are building Taj properties aggressively outside India.
When I joined in 2003, about 80 per cent of the revenue came from domestic and the balance international. The idea is to have a more balanced portfolio like 60:40, where 60 per cent is coming from the domestic market. Eventually, the goal is 50:50.
Is there space to have one more brand, perhaps between Gateway and Ginger?
Gateway is a three-star brand, while Ginger is an economy brand. There is some space between the two, which can be classified as mid-scale. That’s the only segment we are not present at the moment. We will look at it one day.
IHCL has traditionally followed an ownership model. Will you continue with it?
A lot of new hotels outside India are management contracts, while some like in the US and UK are owned properties. It will be a mix, moving forward.