Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces on Friday announced ‘brand new architecture’ for its existing chain in Sri Lanka and said that it would look for more sites to expand in the post-war island nation. Currently the group has three properties in Sri Lanka. Five-star hotels in Colombo and Bentota, a coastal town 65 km south of the Capital, and a four-star hotel at Seeduwa near the international airport.

Unveiling the plans at a news conference here, Raymond Bickson, Managing Director & CEO, Indian Hotels Company, said the company was looking to cash in on the increased tourist traffic to Sri Lanka without compromising on the standards of the group.

Under the new brand architecture, the Taj Exotica in Bentota has migrated to Vivanta by Taj, in the Upper Upscale category, and will now be known as Vivanta by Taj-Bentota, Sri Lanka, and the Airport Garden Hotel will migrate to The Gateway Hotels, in the Upscale category, effective January 2011, and will be called The Gateway Hotel-Airport Garden, Seeduwa.

While the tourist for the current year is estimated at 6.50 lakh, it is expected to touch the 2.5-million mark by 2016.

“There’s been a dramatic turnaround. Earlier, rooms were going for $50-60. Now it is touching the $100. The occupancy is also better,” Ajoy K Misra, Senior Vice-President, sales and marketing, said.

Explaining the rationale behind the creation of a basket of brands and the relevance to Sri Lanka, Mr. Misra said, “Each brand has been created to appeal to a distinct psychographic segment and have unique identities.”