Taj enters China, to manage two hotels

Indian Hotels, the owner of Taj properties, today became the first Indian hospitality major to forge a partnership in China.Taj International Hong Kong, a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian Hotels, has signed a management contract with Cuiting Hotspring Hotel Management, a subsidiary of Zhong Qi International Investment Co to operate the latter’s Temple of Heaven Park property in Beijing and the Hainan Hotel project.

In close proximity to the Temple of Heaven, which is a Unesco heritage site, it would be a deluxe luxury hotel with 46 rooms.

The property is under construction and the first phase would be complete by March next year. According to the management, another 60 rooms will be added shortly.

The property should be ready in two years.

The other property in Hainan Island will be designed as a premium resort destination, with plans to develop a 500-key resort, with 40 villas over 60 acres of land. It would take around three years for the resort to be complete.

For Indian Hotels, this is a vanilla management contract — earnings being a percentage of sales and duration being 15 years with terms for renewal.

Indian Hotels is expecting to build a strong brand in China along with its partners to enhance its global footprints. Though no further expansion plans are listed in China as of now, the company is trying to enter as a luxury brand. Brand names for these properties are yet to be decided.

(business standard)