Icons of Travel

Most frequent travellers (and even the not so frequent ones) have come to identify with a few icons of travel that are scattered across the globe. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, Taj Mahal in Agra, Big Ben in London, etc are all well-known travel icons that have become integral to the city that hosts these global tourist attractions. There is, however, another genre of travel icons which have come to be identified with a particular city or destination just by the sheer influence that they have exerted on the travel and accommodation sector in that location. I am talking of hotels that have become landmarks of hospitality, and synonymous with the city itself, to travellers across the globe. Take the Waldorf Astoria in New York, The Savoy in London, Raffles in Singapore and our very own Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Every one of these hotels are today more than just places that offer quality accommodation to travellers like you and me. They have evolved into tourist attractions in themselves. What is even more striking is that all the four that I have named off the cuff are business hotels situated in the heart of four premier business capitals of the world, whose clientele are mainly business travellers... just goes to show that it does not always have to be a scenic tourist location and a fancy property to attract attention. It’s all about building a reputation and maintaining it. This new-year issue of Express Business Traveller celebrates the centenary of arguably India’s premier hospitality icon - The Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. This is our tribute to a hotel which has pioneered many a hospitality concept in India and played host to scores of business travellers in India’s financial capital over the last 100 years.

On this high note, we would like to wish all our readers a great year of travel ahead. Happy New Year!

Sheldon Santwan
Editor
ehc@vsnl.com