Leela Hotels to strengthen presence in north

Embarking on an expansion mode, hospitality major The Leela Hotels and Resorts has plans to open hotels in Agra and Jaipur to make its strong presence felt in the country's vital tourism circuit.    

The future plans of the Leela, which entered the ancient city of Udaipur in Rajasthan last month, included entry into Hyderabad and Pune besides completing the ongoing projects in New Delhi and Chennai by 2010, a senior executive of the group said here today.   

"We are keeping up our plans as we are confident that the demand for high quality hospitality services are bound to go up in the coming years", Biswajit Chakraborty, General Manager The Leela Kempinski Kovlam Beach, told reporters.   

Though the global recession had cast a shadow over the growth of tourism, the industry was expected to regain the uptrend soon, he said.   

Also, the domestic tourism would be registering high growth with visitors within the country looking for attractive packages from hotel chains, Chakraborty said.   

The customer response to the Leela Kempinski Udaipur, located by Lake Pichola, had been quite encouraging and the facilities and services offered by it well-appreciated by the guests, he said.