THE Canadian-based Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts chain is stepping up its development plans over the next few years in a drive to expand its presence beyond its North American base.
By the end of the year, the group, which operates 45 luxury hotels around the world, will have opened properties in Paris, Dublin and London.
Its London project at Canary Wharf (see story below) joins the Four Seasons Hotel Park Lane as the group’s second hotel in the city.
In France and Ireland, the group makes its debut with the opening of the 226-room Four Seasons Paris – formerly the famous George V, reopening after a year-long renovation – and the 280-room Four Seasons Hotel Dublin, located on the grounds of the Royal Dublin Society 42-acre showgrounds.
The group also wants to develop its presence in the Middle East, with the construction of a resort property in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and a hotel in Cairo, as well as the group’s first base in Amman, Jordan.
By the end of 2001, Four Seasons Hotels will have opened an additional 16 hotels.
Regional vice-president John Stauss said the new projects were in line with the group’s aim to expand beyond North America.
“We are in most North American cities already and our development strategy was to move on to Europe, the Middle East and South America.”
Stauss said Four Seasons wanted a property in all the main destinations visited by its regular clients.
“We find that our guests ask to stay with us elsewhere. Historically we try to open about three to four hotels per year but over the next two years, growth will be at an accelerated pace.”
But the group is also continuing to expand within the US. Among projects scheduled to open in the near future is the chain’s first desert resort. The 210-room Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale in Arizona, situated next to a championship golf course, is due to come on line this autumn.
Other projects in the pipeline include the 424-room Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas and the 297-room Four Seasons Hotel Miami.