The Ashok brand of premium hotels, run by state owned hospitality group India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), will share its brand name with six private properties developing across five states. A deal has been struck to share the brand name with the six hotels ranging from three-star to five-star category on revenue sharing basis. The pact has been signed under a new brand name of Ashok Alliance Scheme of Hotels (AAH).
The six properties include a 5-star luxury hotel in Manesar by Manesar Developers, a 4-star airport hotel in Kolkata by Shelter Projects, a 3-star hotel each in Malout (Punjab) by Silver Palm Hotel and Resort, in Nagpur by Gupta Associates, in Jodhpur by Shakun Properties and in Bhiwandi (Rajasthan) by Jagrit Infrastructure. ITDC had earlier signed similar agreements with a property in Chandigarh named Hotel Welcome City Beautiful and another in Surat called Riverfront Hotel.
A release from ITDC said that AAH would let its member hotels to suffix 'Ashok' to their names, providing them instant brand recognition in an increasingly competitive world and member hotel would also benefit from the talent, operational management expertise, marketing inputs, PR and global reach resources of ITDC Group. The release added that an agreement would also be signed with the ‘Indian Institute of Learning and Advanced Development’ (INLEAD), Gurgaon to launch ‘Ashok INLEAD School of Hospitality’.
