Courtesy/News Source: power50.hoteliermiddleeast.com

With two operational hotels and four more in the pipeline, Ranjit Phillipose is directing IHCL's Taj Hotels through its expansion strategy in the UAE and Africa.

This year, the group will open another Taj property in Dubai's JLT district. Expected to be completed by the end of 2018 or Q1 2019, the hotel will feature 200 rooms.

A third Taj property — Taj property on Palm Jumeirah — is scheduled to open in 2019, and will comprise 325 rooms and suites. Earlier this year, IHCL also announced it has signed its first project in Saudi Arabia — a Taj hotel in Makkah — which will open in January 2023.

While overseeing the group’s expansion in the region, Phillipose is also juggling his role as general manager of Taj Dubai, the only operational Taj property in the UAE at the moment.

“As area director UAE & Africa, I am aggressively seeking development opportunities to grow the Taj brand in UAE and Africa. At the same time, as general manager of Taj Dubai, I relentlessly seek to improve the welfare and performance of my team,” Phillipose tells Hotelier Middle East.