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nternational hotel chain operator Aston International has officially ended its partnership with Paramount Group, one of the country’s major hotel developers.

Aston sales and marketing vice president Norbert Vas said the hotel chain would continue to expand its hotel management services in the country despite the end of its cooperation with the Paramount Group.

 “We both have enthusiastic expansion plans in Indonesia, it made perfect sense for us to shake hands, stay close friends but continue to develop independently from each other,” Norbert told The Jakarta Post last week.

“Aston wants to continue its growth as an independent hotel management company while Paramount has chosen the hotel industry to become one of their core businesses and wants to expand in many Indonesian cities.”

Earlier this year, Paramount Group said that they planned to build 99 new hotels comprising two- to four-star properties over the next 10 years to help expand its hospitality interests in the country by collaborating with Aston International.

Aston Paramount Serpong Hotel and Conference Center in Serpong, Banten, is one of properties that was built and operated under partnership. After the end of the partnership agreement, the Paramount Group will rebrand and fully manage the 173-room four-star hotel.

Norbert said the presence of Paramount in the hotel management business would enhance competition in Indonesia’s hospitality industry that would in turn benefit customers.

Aston corporate marketing communication manager Febry Anindita said that the ending of the contract with the Paramount Group would not affect the hotel chain’s business expansion in Indonesia. Aston would operate at least 200 new hotels, which are now in the pipeline, Febry said.

She said Aston currently operated 56 hotels and villas with more than 12,000 rooms throughout the archipelago with 70 to 80 percent occupancy rates. By the end of 2012, the management would be operating 60 hotels as four new hotels were set to commence operations in November and December, she added.

Contacted separately, Paramount Group promotion manager Indra Irawan said the group had recently established a hotel management company; The Parador Hotels and Resort.

Indra said the company would operate accommodation ranging from two- to five-star classification under several brands such as Atria for the four-star class, Atria Inn for the three-star and Fame for the budget class.