Four Seasons Hotels to have 4 new properties in India by '15

22 Mar 2010, 1342 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: Microsoft founder Bill Gates- promoted luxury hotel group Four Seasons on Monday said it will have four new properties in India within the next five years as part of its strategy to tap the resurgent hospitality sector in the country. 

The Canada-headquartered chain said it will add over a 1,000 rooms to its inventory and focus both on the leisure and business segments. 

"Our plan is to have two new hotels in Bangalore and Gurgaon and two resorts in Kerala and Jaipur by 2015. This will add over a 1,000 rooms to our inventory," Four Seasons Hotel Director (Marketing) Sanjeev Shukla said. 

He said the properties will be built under tie ups with local developers who will also invest in them, while Four Seasons will manage them and give its brand name. 

"After a slowdown of over a year and a half, the hospitality sector in India is showing an upward trend with a rise in room occupancy. We want to tap both the business and leisure segments," Shukla said. 

While the two hotels at Bangalore and Gurgaon will focus on the business segment, the resorts will cater for the leisure sector, he added. 

The group started its operations in India in 2008 and currently runs a mid-sized luxury boutique in Mumbai with 202 rooms. 

Four Seasons, promoted jointly by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Saudi Arabia's Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, currently operates 86 hotels across the globe.