The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co, a luxury chain owned by Marriott International Inc, said it will expand to Beijing and Tokyo for the first time under a plan to almost double the number of Asia hotels under management.

　　Atlanta-based Ritz-Carlton, bought in 1995 by the largest US hotel company, will sign a contract within a month to manage a hotel to be built in Tokyo and will clinch a deal in September to manage a hotel due to open in Beijing by 2005, said Mark Lettenbichler, area general manager for Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong.

　　Hotel operators, including Six Continents Plc and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, are forging ahead with expansion plans as Asia emerges from the shadow of severe acute respiratory syndrome, which crippled occupancy rates.

　　"They are extending their footprint here in Asia," said Eric Wong, a UBS Warburg analyst in Hong Kong. "Tourism is definitely growing in Asia, particularly on China's mainland. Tokyo is a very significant market for everybody. If you are a major luxury chain, you want to be in a gateway city like Tokyo."

　　China's mainland, where Ritz-Carlton already operates a hotel in Shanghai, is ranked fifth among top world tourist destinations, according to the World Tourism Organization.

　　The Ritz-Carlton, which has 54 hotels worldwide, operates hotels in seven Asian cities, including Osaka, Shanghai and Hong Kong. It plans to raise that number to 12 by 2007, said Lettenbichler.

　　"We see some great potential throughout the region," he said in an interview. "Asia is one of the top priorities for us as far as expansion is concerned."

　　The Ritz-Carlton also is seeking to manage hotels in Sydney, Taipei, Bangkok and the Thai resort of Phuket, Lettenbichler said.

　　All its Asian hotels operate under the Ritz-Carlton name though they are owned by other companies.

　　"The markets are continuing to develop here in Asia," said Scott Hetherington, Asia Pacific managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels in Singapore.

　　Other hotel groups are also optimistic about Asia. Six Continents, owner of the Inter-Continental and Holiday Inn hotels, plans to add 25 hotels in Asia in two years. Starwood, the world's biggest hotel operator, said in November it plans to triple its hotels in China to about 45 in the next three years.