BENGALURU (Reuters) - Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India reported a 46% rise in its fourth-quarter profit on Friday, aided by higher occupancy and strong membership growth.

A surge in tourism has enabled hospitality companies, including Mahindra Holidays, to rebound strongly after COVID-19.

Mahindra Holidays is known for its premier resorts brand 'Club Mahindra' and has 110 resorts in India and overseas. Its unit in Europe has 33 vacation properties across Finland, Sweden and Spain.

The company reported a consolidated net profit of 823.6 million rupees ($9.88 million) for the quarter ending March 31, against 564.2 million rupees a year ago.

Its revenue rose nearly 13% to 8 billion rupees, while total expenses rose 9.5%.

During the fourth quarter, resort occupancies reached 87.3%, up from 85% the previous year, while the value of membership sales increased 18% year-on-year.

The company expanded its portfolio with resorts in domestic locations like Sikkim and Assam, and international ones such as Turkey, Kenya, Thailand and Georgia.

The company reported an 18% rise in its quarterly upgrades, reflecting customers' decisions to upgrade their memberships, to 660 million rupees.

Shares of Mahindra Holidays rose 1.5% on Friday ahead of the results.

($1 = 83.3471 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)