India's Leela group plans MidEast hotel ventures

Indian hotel chain The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts has revealed plans to enter the Middle East market.

Currently the chain has eight properties in India, for which it has a marketing alliance with Kempinski, and is set to open six more in the coming two years.

Leela’s vice-chairman and managing director Vivek Nair told Gulf News: “We are quite open to the idea of bringing the Leela hotel's brand name to the Middle East region after we finish opening 14 properties in India.”

The group also said it would be launching a new brand in the first half of this year.

“It will not be a mid-scale or economy brand, but a first class one targeted at Tier-II cities in India,” explained Nair.

However, he continued: “Once we have it established in India, we could look to enter the Middle East market with it — after three years.”