Conrad Hotels, owned since 2000 by a joint venture between the Hilton Group and Hilton Hotels Corporation, is steadily continuing it global expansion programme. The Brussels-based company now has 15 properties in this luxury brand, with four new hotels under development - in Bali, Phuket and Tokyo in Asia, and Miami in the USA.

The Conrad Phuket at Panwa Bay, where the group has a management agreement, is due to open in 2005, and the group`s first Japanese hotel - in Tokyo - will also open next year. Conrad will open the Bali Resort and Spa this spring and the Conrad Miami is expected to open in May.

Conrad has two hotels in Ireland (Dublin and Thomastown), three in Egypt, two in Australia, as well as properties in New York, London, Brussels, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Bangkok Singapore, and Punta del Este Uruguay. They range from a premium golf and sporting estate in Ireland (Mount Juliet Conrad) to the `hotel-within-a hotel` Waldorf Towers, occupying the 28th - 42nd floors of the Waldorf Astoria, and the 619-room Conrad Cairo with its world-class casino.

Conrad`s expansion has primarily been through securing management contracts for newly built hotels and conversions that require modest investment by the joint-venture partners. But in a new move, Conrad has begun to explore the possibility of designating the ultra-luxury Conrad brand to some of Hilton`s existing properties.