EIH terminates co-branding alliance with Hilton

EIH Ltd, the flagship company of The Oberoi Group, today announced that it has terminated a strategic marketing and co-branding alliance with leading global hotel chain Hilton International Co. The decision will come into effect from April 1, 2008.

Under the alliance, EIH managed and ran seven five-star hotels under the Trident Hilton brand Gurgaon, Agra, Cochin, Jaipur, Udaipur, Bhubaneshwar and Chennai. It also has a five-star deluxe property christened Hilton Towers in Mumbai.

EIH will develop the Trident brand independently. All seven hotels will now be called The Trident and the deluxe property Trident Towers.

"We felt there was a possibility of a dilution in the Trident brand with Hilton's overall development strategy in India. With Hilton planning to open the more downmarket Hilton Garden Inn in the country, we felt customers would get confused between that and the Trident Hilton," said SS Mukherji, vice-chairman, EIH.

Realty firm DLF Ltd had forged a 74:26 joint venture with Hilton International last year. It is this joint venture company that will be setting up the Hilton Garden Inn brand.

"The first Trident opened way back in 1988 and we entered into an alliance with Hilton only in 2004. So we have always had our own marketing set-up which only has to be revamped. The company is already marketing The Oberoi brand very successfully," said Mukherji.

Over the next three years, EIH will add 1,300 rooms across three Trident Hotels in Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.