Casino Group Of Hotels Rechristened To cgh earth

At a recently held function, Kerala's hotel major, the Casino Group, announced the change of name to cgh earth. The groups' founder and chairman Dominic Joseph unveiled the new name and logo. The group-managing director Jose Dominic spoke on the reasons why the group opted to change an almost 50 year old name. "Despite the fact that Casino Group is a well known name both in Kerala and elsewhere, the company has taken this step as the word 'Casino' had an image and meaning, that did not reflect the values and positioning of the hotel. Instead, by adding the word 'Earth' the name now is more closely reflected to the core values, which the group always upheld. In particular, it's values of respect for environment and community and its strong local personality," added Dominic.

The change of name is not only a re-christening of the group but an affirmation of the values it so strongly holds. This rechristening indicates the future trend of positioning of the company and the maturing of the company in the space it occupies and a sharper focus on its core business of experiential holiday.

The business of the company that will now be operated under the cgh earth brand are;Spice Village, Thekkady, Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom, The Marari Beach, Mararikulam, Spice Coast Cruises, Vembanad, The Brunton Boatyard, Fort KochiCasino Hotel, W Island, Bangaram Island Resort, Lakshadeep.

The projects underway are, Kalari Kovilakom, Kollengode that will be implemented in the coming years. Scheduled to open in April 2004, this will be a palace, which will offer Ayurveda in its pure form. Gokarna Beach, Karnataka, a 50 acre site in Karwar district, Karnataka, the foundation stone for the proposed beach resort was laid on December 20, 2003, by S M Krishna, the chief minister of Karnataka This will also be the company's first foray into Karnataka which will also be a focused destination. The endeavour will be to treat a string of small sized experience hotels that will offer different experiences of Karnataka.

Marayoor, Munnar Hills, the addition of this facility in early 2005 will fill in the gap of its absence from Munnar.

The re-branding process, which has been flagged off, is only one step in a substantial initiative that is being undertaken that will enable cgh earth to become a global leader in the space it occupies. A process that also involves organisational development, capacity building and eventually changing its structure of ownership from a closely held family concern to a widely held public enterprise.