South Korean hotel group, The Shilla Hotels & Resorts, has formed a strategic marketing alliance with India’s Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.

The two prestigious brands plan to develop cross-promotional opportunities to harness each other’s strengths and dominance in their respective markets.

Shilla, an affiliate company to the Samsung Group and member of The Leading Hotels of the World,  has two luxury 5-star properties - The Shilla Seoul, in its own 23-acre private park in the heart of the capital, and its sister resort on the southern island of Jeju, The Shilla Jeju, a major venue for international conventions and exhibitions and one of Korea’s most popular holiday destinations.

There are 15 hotels in the Taj Luxury Hotels portfolio, which is part of the Tata Group,  one of India’s premier business houses.

In India they include the historic The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai, which has just celebrated its centenary, as well as the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur and Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur.

Hotels and resorts outside India include the Taj Exotica Resort & Spa in the Maldives, 51 Buckingham Gate in London, Taj Exotica Resort & Spa in Mauritius and The Pierre in New York.

Under the alliance, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces and The Shilla Hotels will develop reciprocal and joint marketing activities that include joint participation in trade shows, sales events, culinary promotions and niche marketing programmes.

The companies will assist each other in exchanging sales leads and conducting road shows across India and Korea. Their respective newsletters and websites will communicate news to a larger client base.

Meanwhile, Shilla is in expansionist mode, having just exported the brand beyond South Korea for the first time with the management contract to operate the new 5-star The Shilla Suzhou in China, opening in July 2006.
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