Known for its three-star hotel chain Citymax, Landmark Hospitality is planning to extend its product offering into two more areas of business four-star resorts and serviced hotel apartments. In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Russel G.H. Sharpe, Landmark Hospitality\'s Chief Operating Officer for its Hotel Division, said that the company is looking to expand its hotels business with \"two more brands\" addressing two additional segments of the market. While he did not divulge the new brand names, Sharpe said: \"We are already in negotiations for two new brands under the Landmark Hospitality portfolio, details of which would be finalised soon.\" He added that the brands would come on to the market in \"three to five years\". \"And it could even be more than two brands.\" Competing directly with brands such as Ibis, Holiday Inn Express, Premier Inn and other local hotel brands in the budget segment, Landmark Hospitality is currently represented by its flagship Citymax hotels in the mid-segment, with three properties in Dubai, the first of which opened a year ago. \"We will look at the UAE to kick off operations for our new brands, just like we did with Citymax,\" said Sharpe, without divulging further details. Asked if the company had any plans for a luxury offering under the Landmark umbrella, Sharpe said: \"No. Landmark has always been present in the mid-segment of the market, as this is a more profitable segment [percentage-wise] compared to the five-star hotels segment.\" He continued: \"The luxury segment is not only more capital-intensive but the return on investments is also quite slow to come in this end of the market.\" From / Gulf News