LIMA (Bloomberg) ? Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. expects its Latin American sales to grow by 12 percent this year on rising tourism and business travel, vice president Filip Boyen said.

The Bermuda-based company will bid on Brazil's Cataratas do Iguacu hotel near Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, in March and plans to buy hotels in Brazil's Buzios resort, Argentina, Ecuador and Guatamala this year, Boyen said in an interview at the company's five-star Hotel Miraflores Park Plaza in Lima.

The company is betting on Latin American expansion to boost sales as growth slows in Europe, the US and Africa. Orient-Express runs 44 hotels in 22 countries.

"Our number one priority is Latin America," Boyen said. "The region has great potential for growth now most countries have stabilised."

The company plans to invest $5 million in an upgrade of its hotel in Mexico City and $14 million in upgrades of its four Peruvian hotels this year, Boyen said. Investment will be mostly- financed by a $60 million credit line from the World Bank's International Finance Corp., he said.

The company's shares rose 48 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $33.50 on the New York Exchange. Shares have jumped by one-half over the past 12 months.