The two parties on Thursday signed a management contract, under which the five-star property will be renamed as “The Dusit Thani Annapurna Hotel”.

The signing also marks the reentry of Dusit Thani in Nepal. It had earlier managed Hotel Fulbari in Pokhara under the name of “Dusit Thani Fulbari Resort & Spa”.

Shreejana Rana, executive director of Hotel Annapurna, and Rustom Vickers, group director -  development of Dusit International, signed the agreement.

With the latest deal, the hotel will see a complete makeover. The hotel will be redeveloped and re-branded. As per the plan, the hotel will add 100 new rooms and offer a combined 230 Thai-standard guest rooms. It will offer a variety of restaurants, recreational facilities and large banqueting spaces. The hotel plans to invest Rs 5 billion for the makeover. The hotel currently has 130 rooms.

“Both the hotels have a long history and are pioneers in the hospitality industry. We hope our alliance will establish a new benchmark in the industry,” said Rana.

Hotel Annapurna was established in 1963 and Dusit Thani was opened

in 1949.

Vickers expressed happiness to be a part of Annapurna, and said the alliance would benefit the Nepali tourism and hospitality industry. “As both the hotels share a common history, we are embarking on a new and exciting chapter and looking forward to create a long-term value creation,” he said.

Dusit has 25 hotels in countries like the UAE, Nairobi and Bhutan, and plans to add five more chains this year.

Thai Ambassador to Nepal Kanthong Unakul said the alliance will be a landmark in Thailand-Nepal business cooperation, promoting hospitality industry of both the countries.

Tourism Ministry statistics show five-star hotels achieved an average occupancy of

58.85 percent last year, down from the previous year’s 62.76 percent.

Of the 678,535 room nights produced last year, only 399,318 were occupied.

There are 10 five-star properties in Nepal, eight of them in Kathmandu and two in Pokhara.