This month Rezidor Hotel Group celebrated its 50th Anniversary having opened its first property back in the 60’s. Since then it’s continued to go from strength to strength. This year alone, Rezidor has opened 19 new hotels featuring 4,600 rooms and this month they opened nine hotels in just one week, paving the way for Rezidor to deliver another record breaking year of growth. Rezidor set a new company milestone this month, opening nine hotels in one week. These openings helped Rezidor achieve the landmark of having 300 hotels in operation across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Rezidor’s fast growing portfolio has reached a fantastic new height of 400+ hotels and 86,500 rooms in operation and under development in 62 countries.
Rezidor now has 52 hotels and 13,500+ rooms in operation in Eastern Europe with an additional 8,200 rooms in the pipeline. These new openings are part of the recently announced agreement for the Baltics and Russia with the Linstow group for former Reval hotels. Rezidor is already a market leader in Russia and other CIS countries, and the addition of the Reval portfolio gives the company a leading position in the important Baltics region too.
The hotels that opened are as follows:
Radisson Sonya Hotel, St. Petersburg, Russia
Radisson Blu Elizabete Hotel, Riga, Latvia
Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija, Riga, Latvia
Radisson Blu Ridzene Hotel, Riga, Latvia
Radisson Blu Hotel Olümpia, Tallinn, Estonia
Park Inn Central Tallinn, Estonia
Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, Vilnius, Lithuania
Park Inn Kaunas, Lithuania
Park Inn Klaipeda, Lithuania
Radisson Blu Majestic Resort, Galzignano Terme, Italy
The Radisson Blu Majestic Resort, Galzignano Terme, is quite simply a spectacular destination in a unique setting. This latest beauty reflects Rezidor’s strengthened focus on developing more resort hotels in response to the fact that the leisure segment is weathering the economic storm comparatively better than other segments. This beautiful resort is set in an area of outstanding natural beauty in the Veneto region’s Euganean Hills, just 15kms from Padua. The hills are renowned for their healing natural thermal springs and the elegant new 97-room hotel offers a rejuvenating retreat from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Forming the perfect complement to Rezidor’s fantastic Italian city hotels in Rome and Milan, The Radisson Blu Majestic Resort, Galzignano Terme is a glamorous addition to Rezidor’s leisure portfolio and the extensive renovations due to be completed at the end of 2012 and will add another 120 rooms.
FUTURE OPENINGS :
Park Inn Voronezh, Russia
The announcement of this new property further cements Rezidor’s position as the leading international hotel operator in Russia. This signing means Rezidor now has an impressive 15,000 rooms in operation and under development in Russia/CIS and the Baltics.
The property features 164 rooms and is scheduled to open its doors in 2013. The hotel forms part of the strategic development agreement between Rezidor and the Russia-based Regional Hotel Chain LLC (RHC). The agreement comprises 20 future Park Inn properties spread across major cities in Russia. The firm list of development includes 10 confirmed locations, and another 10 sites have been earmarked as potential future locations.
Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Porticcio, Corsica, France
This month saw Rezidor add another new property to its young and successful resort portfolio in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Porticcio on the French island Corsica – famous home to Napoleon Bonaparte will feature 170 rooms and is scheduled to open its doors in spring 2012. This latest signing takes the groups portfolio in France to 25 hotels with almost 4,200 rooms in operation and under development.
Each of the 170 guest rooms will feature private balconies, perfect for families and couples. Extensive leisure areas are also planned, including a spa, fitness centre, tennis courts, indoor and outdoor pools and a kids club. For those mixing business with pleasure, 370 square meters of meeting rooms will be available. The resort is easily accessible from mainland Europe: The Napoleon Bonaparte Airport is 15 kilometres north of the hotel. Corsica’s largest city, Ajaccio, is 30 kilometres northwest. An extensive road network circles Corsica giving visitors great access to all corners of the island.
The Rezidor Hotel Group Celebrate 50th Anniversary
The Rezidor Hotel Group proudly celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. On July 1, 1960 the company’s first hotel opened its doors – the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen – and marked the birth of Rezidor. Today, the group features five distinctive brands and more than 400 hotels in operation and under development with over 86,300 rooms in 62 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa, and is one of the fastest growing hotel companies worldwide. Rezidor has developed from a small Scandinavian group and “new kid on the block” to a renowned international player.
The SAS Royal Hotel Copenhagen was the key to success for The Rezidor Hotel Group – in the early days known as SAS Catering & Hotels and later as SAS International Hotels (SIH). Focused on growth from the beginning, the group opened their first hotel outside Scandinavia in 1980 in Kuwait. In 1994, SIH signed a Master Franchise Agreement with Carlson Hospitality Worldwide and created the world’s first dual branded hotel chain: Radisson SAS. 1999 saw the company’s first hotel in Africa, and in 2000 the group reached the milestone of 100 hotels in operation and under development.
In 2002, Rezidor SAS Hospitality signed a further agreement with Carlson and went multi-brand – being Carlson’s franchisee for Radisson SAS, Country Inn, Park Inn and Regent in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The group’s 5th brand was created in 2005 when Rezidor signed a worldwide licence agreement with the iconic Italian fashion house Missoni for Hotel Missoni.
When SAS sold their hotel business in 2006, Rezidor became a listed company on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and got a new name: The Rezidor Hotel Group. Carlson is currently Rezidor’s biggest shareholder (50.1%). Growth is still Rezidor’s engine: In September 2007, the group reached 300 hotels in operation and under development, and in 2010 the company hit 400 properties in operation and under development. The most important markets for future business development are the emerging markets Russia/CIS and Africa where Rezidor belongs to the leading international hotel operators and manages an impressive portfolio of almost 60 hotels with over 14,400 rooms (Russia/CIS) and almost 30 hotels with over 6,100 rooms (Africa).
The 46th Rezidor Business School takes place in Abu Dhabi
The Rezidor Hotel Group hosted its 46th The Business School this month at the Radisson Blu and Park Inn hotels on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. Over 120 Rezidor employees from hotels across the Middle East and Africa region attended the five day development school, participating in a range of 11 different classes to further enhance their skills.
‘The Business School @ Rezidor’ is the primary learning platform for employees within Rezidor. The School was launched in 1996 when the firm recognized a need to structure training and development, ensure consistency, streamline costs and continue to foster the company’s Yes I Can! service culture.
As a people business, Rezidor has always focused heavily on personal development and continuous learning, rather than specific job trainings and recognises the importance of offering development programmes that are flexible and individualized, in order to help employees grow at their own speed and in the best environment. The Business School has also proved to be an excellent talent spotting vehicle that helps the firm identify the next generation of Rezidor leaders.
Park Inn becomes “Park Inn by Radisson”
It was announced this month that Rezidor’s mid market brand Park Inn would become known as Park Inn by Radisson with immediate effect. Park Inn is a young brand which was launched in early 2003 and has already achieved over 140 hotels with over 26,000 rooms in operation and under development across EMEA.
The link with Radisson and its great strength and reputation will allow Park Inn to grow even faster and to be even more efficient. The brand endorsement will also further increase the brand awareness for both Park Inn and Radisson.
The re-naming process will start in the United Kingdom, a key home market for Park Inn, and be a gentle evolutionary process across Europe, Middle East and Africa. A dedicated marketing and sales campaign will support the transition of all Park Inn hotels to Park Inn by Radisson which will be completed by the end of 2011.
