Private equity firm Warburg Pincus has picked up around 27% stake in Delhi based mid price hotel chain, Lemon Tree, for US$60 million. Currently two Lemon Tree hotels are operational at Gurgaon with plans to have fifteen more all over India by 2010. The proceeds of the stake sale will be utilized in Lemon Tree expansion. Part of the money raised, approximately US$15.5 million, will be used as seed capital to launch a new chain of economy hotels, under the Red Fox hotel brand name. The plans are afoot to launch Red Fox in Manesar and Mumbai and then increase the presence in cities like Pune, Jaipur and Hyderabad. Lemon Tree Hotels operate in US$65 to US$70 price range. Red Fox hotels are expected to be positioned at US$ 25 to US$30 price range.

Leading Auckland-based property company Melview Developments has announced the launch of a brand new group of hotels in New Zealand called the Quadrant Hotel Group. The first hotel in the chain, The Quadrant, Auckland, officially opened its doors on 2 August 2006. The Quadrant Hotel Group is Melview’s first venture into managing and operating hotels in New Zealand. The company’s hospitality experience is in developing and building hotels including the Sebel Hotel, the soon-to-be-announced five-star hotel in Lighter Quay and the Holiday Inn in Wellington. Construction of a second Quadrant Hotel will begin in late 2007 in Queenstown, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.

A new US$108 million fund was set up to lure more high-spending business travelers to Singapore, as part of Singapore's vision to double visitor arrivals to 17 million and triple tourism receipts to US$19 billion by 2015. The monetary incentive, drawn from an existing US$1.3 billion tourism development fund, is the largest sum set aside for the MICE (meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions) sector. The money will be used over five years to woo international organizations to set up regional offices in Singapore and hire staff. The Trade and Industry Minister also announced Singapore was the top convention city in Asia and was ranked second in the world last year, according to the International Convention and Congress Association's list. But he cautioned industry players not to be complacent as cities such as Bangkok, Melbourne, Shanghai and Dubai are closing in.