Brazil, Russia, India and China development hot spots

Brazil, Russia, India and China are the current top development hot spots in the world, a travel and tourism industry expert said on Tuesday.

A huge incentive for developing in India is the fact that the country has fewer hotel rooms in the entire country than does China's largest city Shanghai, Bernard Forster, head of London-based HVS Global Hospitality Services' Middle East and Africa operation, said at the Cityscape real estate expo in Dubai.

While China is a major hot spot, secondary cities in Russia are also crying out for a mid-market and economy brand, Forster added.

China, like the Middle East, has been actively trying to attract tourism to its economy, with the government encouraging development in the country's rural regions and secondary cities, said Ufi Ibrahim, chief operations officer at World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in the UK.

China, India and Brazil are also the top three "new job" creators in the travel and tourism industry. The industry created 231.2 million jobs in 2007.

According to a Goldman Sachs report in 2003, the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China - also referred to as BRIC - are rapidly developing and will eclipse most of the current richest countries of the world by 2050.

Forster also named oil rich countries Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Angola as places with strong development opportunities.

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