Four Seasons, Jumeirah to Open Hotels in Brazil

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Jumeirah Group plan to open their first hotels in Brazil as rising incomes in Latin America’s largest economy and the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic games generate demand.

“The time is right now for us to be entering the Brazilian market,” James Erlacher, senior vice president of development for the Americas at the Dubai-based Jumeirah Group, said in an interview in New York.

Jumeirah’s priority is to operate hotels in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s biggest cities, and it’s also considering resorts “primarily in the northeast part of the country,” Erlacher said. The Four Seasons expects to reach agreements with developers of three projects in the next 18 months, including hotels in Sao Paulo and Rio and a beach resort, Alinio Azevedo, the chain’s director of development for South America and the Caribbean, said in an interview.

Rio’s victory over Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo to host the 2016 Olympics will help sustain Brazil’s growth by bringing $51.1 billion into the economy through 2027 and adding 120,000 jobs annually in the next seven years, according to a Sao Paulo business school study prepared for the Ministry of Sports.

Six straight months of job growth, coupled with tax breaks and record low borrowing costs, is driving up consumer spending in Brazil and helping the economy rebound from a recession faster than most countries.