Marketing is a prime asset of any companies in today’s market. Marketing department is the backbone of any companies any d if the company doesn’t have this can be called handicapped. It context to a hotel it also a has vital role, as the hospitality is a fast growing industry and has tough competition everywhere; so it is very important to be ahead of the competition. In this context marketing plays a fatherly role. Marketing department is the area which comes in contact with the customers and tells about the product and the services provided by the hotel and compare it with its competition. During this project the author has given the introduction and importance of marketing about marketing in comparison to a hotel.

A brief about taj hotels palace and resorts has given in relation to its history and segment of customers served. The main objective of this particular project to learn, analyze and propose solutions wherever required to the various marketing strategies undergone by the “Taj Palace, New Delhi” hotel and also giving the reason for the proposed solutions to it.

This project would also allow the author to know and learn about the city and would also allow the author to understand about the hospitality trends in the city. It would also help the author to understand the competitors of “Taj Palace, New Delhi” and providing significant reasons and facts for supporting the reasons of the provided solutions and suggestions.

This will also help to learn about the city and will learn what the trends of hospitality in the city are. It will help to learn what strategies are the competitors of “Taj Palace, New Delhi” to compress it competition.

Marketing: An Introduction

“For a business not to advertise is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but no one else does” – Stuart H. Britt, US advertising consultant

Marketing is a social and managerial process to obtain they need and want through creating and exchanging products of what they need. Kotler defines marketing as “The key to achieving organisational goals consist in determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors.” marketing today helps in understanding the psychology of customers so that products can be innovated accordingly. . In the Hospitality Industry, leaders like the Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces, Marriott International, Hilton, Hyatt, etc are increasing their market share at the expense of smaller chains and independent operators because they possess a thorough understanding of marketing which is essential to ensure steady flow of customers.

Marketing involves the following questions:

How to find the right customers?

Different products?

How does one reduce cost of customer acquisition?

The scope of marketing is quite broad. The implication is that the firm uses to acquire customers and manage the relation with them. The Kotler definition encompasses both development of new products and services and their delivery to customers. Marketing expert Regis McKenna expressed a similar viewpoint in his influential 1991 Harvard Business Review article “Marketing is everything.” McKenna argued that because marketing management encompasses all factors that influence a company’s ability to deliver value to customers; it must be “all-pervasive, part of everyone’s job description, from the receptionists to the Board of Directors.”

The Importance of Marketing in Context to the Hospitality Sector

Marketing is one of the most important tool in the in the hospitality sector as well as other sectors which plays a major role. In other industries selling of products are sold is marketing but in the hospitality sector it is sold with a slight variance. In a hotel it is not the product it is the service that is provided to the guest. Both service marketing and goods marketing start with a crucial need – identification and product design functions; goods generally are produced before sold and services generally are sold before produced. Service industry has less influence on comparison with the other industries. The influence is slow comparison to the industries. The customers who have not witnessed the product may have a different opinion. Good’s marketers may be able to move prospective customers from brand awareness to brand preference with packaging, promotion, pricing and distribution whereas service’s marketers usually cannot.

The services provided in a hotel are intangible. This type of service makes it more difficult to describe the services provided to the customers so the customers can only feel the services. Customer’s perception of risk tends to be high for services because services cannot be touched, smelled, tasted or tried on before purchase. Customers can try a new product like a test drive of a car but to experience the services of a hotel he has register as a guest in the hotel. Service marketers can create brand awareness and induce trial before the sale, but they demonstrate benefits and build brand preference most effectively after the sale. Superior service can only be felt it can’t be packed and given to customers.

Introduction to Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces

Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) is a subsidiary of Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces which is a part of the TATA Group which is Asia’s largest group and one of the finest and the oldest companies of India. The first hotel built by Taj was Taj Mahal Palace built in 1903 and it was built because Indians were not allowed to stay in prestigious hotels and not allowed in clubs during the British rule. This lead in the foundation of the Tata Group by Mr. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. The hotel alone stands for more than a century.

The main development of the group started in the 70’s under the leadership of the then Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Ajit Kerkar. In the starting came the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur. They started with the concept of converting century old palaces into hotels, which is now USP of the Company. During the years many more hotels like Taj Coromandel and the Fisherman’s Cove, Fort Aguada Beach Resort were built. In the 80’s the company came up with two more hotels in the capital city and Bangalore. These hotels are ethnic in nature and they are setup according to international standards.

The Taj is symbol of hospitality in India and completed 100 years in 2003. Till date the company has 78 hotels including resorts and palaces. Out of which 18 are abroad which are in Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States of America, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Africa, the Middle East and Australia. In India it has 60 hotels across 45 locations like Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Goa etc. as the brand holds such diverse network it symbolises Indian hospitality in India and Abroad. The Managing Director, R.K. Krishnakumar says “The vision for the Taj Group is for it to be a select chain, present globally. Asian, perhaps in character, but absolutely international in terms of systems and processes and with a strong West European focus. The way forward was to make sure that the entire Taj team is imbued with the missionary zeal to sell the brand.” The Taj caters all types of hotels like luxury, business and premium. Amongst the clientele, international travellers form the bulk of the market for the Taj particularly in the metros. Even the profiles of the Indian customers are changing with time.

Categories of Taj Hotels

Taj Hotels Palaces and Resorts is an international hospitality group with strong roots in India. For the past 100 years they had build their own reputation on legendary properties, unparalleled facilities and impeccable service. They operate in the luxury, premium, mid market and value segments of the market through their following brands:

Taj (luxury full-services resorts and palaces) is their flagship brand for the world’s most discerning travellers seeking authentic experiences given that luxury is a way of life to which there are accustomed. Spanning world renewed landmarks, modern business hotels idyllic beach resorts, authentic Rajput palaces and rustic safari lodges ,each Taj hotel reinterprets the tradition of hospitality in a refreshingly modern way to create experiences and lifelong memories.

Taj also encompasses a unique set of iconic properties rooted history and tradition that deliver truly unforgettable experience. A collection of outstanding properties with strong heritage as hotels or palaces which offer something more than great physical product and except cal service. This group is defined by the emotional and unique equity of its iconic properties that are authentic, non-replicable with great potential to crate memories and stories.

Taj Exotica is their resort and spa brand found in the most exotic and relaxing locales of the world. The properties are defined by the privacy and intimacy they provide. The hotels are clearly differentiated by their product philosophy and service design. They are centred on high and accommodation, intimacy and an environment that allow its guest unrivalled comfort and privacy. They are defined by a sensibility of intimate design and by their varied and electric culinary experiences, impeccable service and authentic Indian spa sanctuaries.

Taj Safaris are wildlife lodges that allow travellers to experiences the unparallel beauty of the Indian jungle amidst luxurious surrounding. They offer India’s first and only wildlife luxury lodge circuit .Taj safaris provide sustainable ecotourism model.

Premium Hotels (premium full-service hotels and resorts) provide a new generation of travellers a contemporary and creative hospitality experience that matches their work-hard play-hard lifestyles. Stylish interiors, innovative cuisine, hip bars and a focus on technology set these properties apart.

The Gateway Hotel (upscale/mid-market service hotels and resorts) is a pan India network of hotel s and resorts that offers business and leisure travels a hotel designed, keeping the modern nomad in mind. At the Gateway hotel people believe in keeping things simple. This is why Taj hotels are divided into 7 simple zones stay, hangout, meet, work, unwind and explore.

Ginger (Economy Hotels) is their revolutionary concept in hospitality for the value segment. Intelligently designed facilities, consistency and affordable are hallmarks of this brand targeted at travellers who value simplicity and self service.

Client profile

Taj hotels have a client profile consultation service provided wherein they diagnose the clientele needs and with that information they try and provide the required facilities to their customers. Generally Taj concentrates on the upper class of the society who can spend lavishly on the luxury provided.

Vision

The Taj group hotels commit itself to the overall improvement of the ecological environment, which all the people are a part of.

We recognize that we are not owners but caretakers of the planet and owe it to our children and future generations of humankind.

It is our endeavour not only to conserve and protect but also to renew and regenerate the environment in which we live and operate.

Our commitment encompasses all actions related to our products, services, associates, partners, vendors and communities.

We will partner and engage with our environment through EARTH:

ENVIRONMENT AWARENESS AND RENEWAL AT TAJ HOTELS. For us earth is not a program, nor a process, it is a way of life.

Mission

Embrace talent and harness expertise to leverage standards of excellence in the art of hospitality to grow our International presence. Increase domestic dominance and create value for all stakeholders.

Earth

In an endeavour to reinstate its vision and efforts to boost sustainable tourism and integrate environment management in all business areas Taj hotels and resorts and palaces presents EARTH (ENVIRONMENT AWARENESS AND RENEWAL AT TAJ HOTELS) a project which presents and indicates the conscious effort of one of Asia’s largest and finest group of hotels to commit to energy conservation and environment management. EARTH has received certification from green globe the only worldwide environmental certification program for travel and tourism.

Taj values