The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : These luxury cars come cheap, courtesy city hotels

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 20, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

These luxury cars come cheap, courtesy city hotels

Sandhya Soman

City hotels have not revised the fares for the snazzy automobiles

TRAVEL IN STYLE FOR LESS: Mercedes Benz's New C-Class car. — file Photo

CHENNAI: Indigos are for those who value fuel efficiency... Lancers and limousines for those who want to stretch out in style. With city hotels pulling out all stops to transport in chic comfort guests who come to the city to attend conferences, seminars or those who come on holiday, there is no dearth of choice of cars for the guests.

The rates charged by hotels for the snazzy automobiles remain the same even if it means a dip in their profit margins. Most of the hotels in Chennai have their own fleet of cars, with plush leather seats and secure seat belts. The hotels have not increased the fare for the car even after the fuel price rise.

Says Ramesh Babu, Deputy Regional Manager of Taj Group's India Travel, "Yes, there is a compromise on the profit margin. But, we are not running a travel agency. We are providing customer care."

According to GRT's Front Office Manager Peer Mohammed, GRT Tours and Travels too is not thinking about fare revision. "We charge Rs.550 for a drop from the airport to the hotel. We have not revised the rates," he says.

ITC Hotel Park Sheraton and Towers' Front Office Manager Abdul Jabbar says the group is not contemplating "immediate revision."

Competition is another reason for non-revision of rates on the sleek fleets.

Taj Coromandel has 15 of the latest version of Tata Indigos, while GRT has a mix of Ford Ikons, Toyota Innovas, Chevrolet Taveras, Toyota Qualises and Mitsubishi Lancers. Park Sheraton has more or less the same fleet, which is operated by their in-house travel agent, Regent Tours & Travels.

While GRT rolls out high-end SUVs such as Tavera and Innova, it is Mercedes all the way when the World Bank team lands at Taj. And, of course, Japanese guests would get only into Mitsubishi or Toyota vehicles.

Mr. Ramesh maintains that the demand for premium cars is unscheduled and constitutes only a miniscule portion of the entire operations.

"We concentrate on providing safe and secure transport," he adds.

Industry insiders, however, say that there will be a revision of the fares as it would otherwise be meaningless to offer such a service without getting even a marginal profit out of it.

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