Founders-

The Indian Hotels Company Ltd, with its main office in Mumbai, India, is the parent company
of the Taj Hotels brand of opulent accommodations. Jamset ji Tata founded the firm in 1902
and it is a member of the Tata Group, one of the biggest economic giants in India. In 2010,
the business employed approximately 20,000 workers. By 2022, the firm will be running 90
hotels and hotel-resorts, 75 of which are in India and 15 of which are outside, in Bhutan, the
Maldives, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the
United States, and Zambia. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, opened
the Taj Mahal Palace, a hotel in Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) overlooking the Arabian
Sea, on 16 December 1903. It was the first Taj property and the first Taj hotel. There are
several anecdotal stories about why Tata opened the Taj hotel. According to a story, he
decided to open the hotel after an incident involving racial discrimination at the Watson's
Hotel in Mumbai, where he was refused entry as the hotel permitted only Europeans.
[8]
 Hotels that accepted only European guests were very common across British India then.
According to another story, he opened the hotel when one of his friends expressed disgust
over the hotels that were present in Bombay then. n 1974, the group opened India's first
international five-star deluxe beach resort, the Fort Aguada Beach Resort in Goa. In 1970s,
the Taj Group also began its business in metropolitan hotels, opening the five-star deluxe
hotel, Taj Coromandel in Chennai, in 1974, acquiring an equity interest and operating
contract for the Taj President (now Vivanta by Taj – President), a business hotel in Mumbai,
in 1977, and also opening the Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi in 1978.
The group has been converting royal palaces in India into luxury hotels since the 1970s. The
first palace to be converted into a Taj luxury hotel was the Lake Palace in Udaipur, in 1971.
[10]
 Other examples include the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Umaid Bhawan
Palace in Jodhpur, Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad and Nadesar Palace in Varanasi.

Products and Services of Taj hotels

 Hotels

It operates and manages around 110 hotels worldwide, majority of them are in its domestic
market.

 Taj SATS-Air Catering

“Offering very advanced and innovative air transport catering and other associated services,
Taj SATS works in the 4 major cities in the Indian sub-continent, they are Kolkata, Chennai,
Mumbai and Delhi. Currently, Taj SATS supplies to more than 26 international and domestic
airlines, and is the leader in the Indian flight catering market” (hotels.com, 2010).

 Taj Luxury Residences

Apart from hotels it also operates luxury serviced apartments, for example the 51
Buckingham gate, Taj Suites and Residences, London.

 Taj Air-Private Luxury Jets

Taking its hospitality services to the new level Taj hotels introduced air services an exclusive
chartered flight services to its customers. The fleet of Taj contains 12 brand new Falcon Jet
2000 aircrafts.

 Indi Travel Pvt ltd.

Indi travel is the IHCL with its operations spreading across different Taj properties in India
offers seamless integration with the hotel services and the travel requirements of its guests.

 Indi travel deals with the following services:

 Renting of Cars

 Flight tickets (International and Domestic)

 Rail tickets

 Tourism services

History

Jamsetji Tata ordered the Taj Mahal Hotel, which debuted to visitors on December
16, 1903.Tata was reportedly turned away from Watson's Hotel since it was
intended only for European guests, according to an often told tale about the
inspiration for the hotel's creation. Nevertheless, author Charles Allen questioned
the veracity of this, claiming that Tata was unlikely to worry about such an insult to
the point that he would build a new hotel. Instead, according to Allen, Tata
commissioned the construction of the Taj at the request of The Times of India's
editor, who believed a hotel "fitting of Bombay" was required, and as a "present to
the city he loved." Sitaram Khanderao Vaidya and were the earliest Indian architects.
The majority of the early customers was Europeans, Maharajas, and social elites.
Since then, many well-known individuals from many walks of life have stayed there,
including Somerset Maugham, Duke Ellington, Lord Mountbatten, and Bill
Clinton.The Taj Mahal Hotel was the first establishment in India to offer electricity,
American fans, German elevators, Turkish baths, and English butlers when it initially
opened in 1903. Eventually, it also hosted India's first all-day restaurant, Blow Up,
and the first licenced bar in the city.When it first opened in 1903, it billed 13 for fan-
equipped rooms with attached baths and 20 for full board. The hotel was
transformed into a 600-bed military hospital during World War I. In 1972.Pan Am's
Inter-Continental Hotels division was granted a management franchise over the Taj
Mahal Hotel, which was then renamed The Taj Mahal Inter-Continental and received
a new tower wing the following year.

It was created by Daraius Batliwala and Rustom Patell, with the latter placing a later
emphasis. It is currently known as The Taj Mahal Tower. The historic Green's Hotel,
 which Reportedly maintained as a hotel from 1904 until it was demolished to make
way for the Tower, was erected there in 1890 as a set of apartments. Taj Hotels
Resorts and Palaces underwent a reorganisation in the 1970s. The firm constructed
brand-new buildings and turned palaces into heritage hotels. The chain grew
internationally in 1980. Intercontinental and the franchise arrangement came to an
end in. Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist group that attacked multiple targets specifically
chose the aj Mahal Palace Hotel for the attack, with the aim of delivering "a blow to
the symbol of India's prosperity and progress". The hotel was attacked on 26
November 2008, causing material damage, including the destruction of the hotel's
roof, in the following hours. The attacks took hostages and killed at least 167 people,
including many foreigners. The victims were mostly Indian nationals, although there
were mentions of Westerners carrying foreign passports. Indian commandos killed
the terrorists barricaded in the hotel to end the three-day battle on 29 November. At
least 31 people died in Taj. About 450 people stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace and
Hotel during the siege. The attack was planned based on information gathered by
David Headley, an American of Pakistani origin who stayed at the hotel several times.
Hillary Clinton visited Mumbai in July 2009 with the aim of deepening Indo-US
relations and stayed at the Taj Hotel; he also attended the funeral ceremony. He
said, "I wanted to send a message to the people of Mumbai that I personally and our
country feel sympathy and solidarity with the Taj workers and guests who lost their
lives..." On 15 August 2010, the Independence Day of India. , the Taj Mahal was
reopened after renovations. The cost of restoring the hotel so far has been 1.75
billion rupees. The palace wing has been renovated and offers new hotel services.In
March 2010, as renovations neared completion, the hotel dropped the word "tower"
from its name and became the Taj Mahal.

Tata Group hospitality firm Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) on Friday said its ‘Taj’ brand
has been rated as the strongest hotel brand in the world.

According to the ‘Hotels 50 2021’ report by Brand Finance, Taj topped the strongest brands
list for having stood resilient in spite of the challenges posed by the pandemic, besides other
achievements. Based on these criteria, Taj (brand value of US$296 million) is the world's
strongest hotel brand with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 89.3 out of 100 and a
corresponding AAA brand strength rating, Brand Finance said in a report.

Taj is followed by Premier Inn, Melia Hotels International (3rd), NH Hotel Group (4th) and
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts (5th) in second place.

Commenting on the achievement, IHCL CEO Puneet Chhatwal said, “Taj's ranking as the
world's strongest hotel brand is a testament to the unwavering trust our guests have
consistently placed in us and the warmth and genuine care shown by our staff every day ."
luxury hospitality and deliver the charm of 'Tajness' to all our stakeholders."

David Haigh, managing director of Brand Finance, said Taj, a brand with a century-old
heritage and venerable Indian hospitality, has remained resilient despite the ongoing
challenges of the pandemic. Brands have been trusted and tested by world travelers in
different ways and Taj has come out on top.

According to the report, Taj is known for its world-class customer service and the luxury
hotel chain ranks highly in Brand Finance's Global Brand Equity Tracker for attention,
familiarity, referrals and reputation, especially in its home market of India. Taj is successfully
implementing its 5-year plan focusing on divestment of non-core assets, less owner
orientation and less reliance on luxury properties, followed by the rapid adoption of the
new R.E.S.E.T 2020 strategy, which provides a supportive transformation framework. The
brand overcame the challenge of the pandemic, contributing to the return of the brand to
the 38th position for the first time since 2016", states the report.

When it comes to the world's most valuable hotel brands, Hilton topped the list despite the
brand's value falling 30 percent to $7.6 billion, according to the report.

Hilton rival Marriott fell from No. 2 (last year) to No. 5, losing more than half its brand value,
60 percent to $2.4 billion. Taj is successfully implementing its 5-year plan focusing on
divestment of non-core assets, less owner orientation and less luxury real estate, followed
by the rapid implementation of the new R.E.S.E.T 2020 strategy, which creates a supportive
framework for change. The brand overcame the challenge of the pandemic and contributed
to the brand's return to the 38th position for the first time since 2016," the report said.

When it comes to the world's most valuable hotel brands, Hilton topped the list, according
to the report, despite the brand's value falling 30 percent to $7.6 billion.
Hilton rival Marriott fell from No. 2 (last year) to No. 5, losing more than half its brand
value, 60 percent to $2.4 billion.