Carlson merges with Rezidor
19 January 2012
Global hospitality and travel company Carlson and hotel company The Rezidor Hotel Group have combined to form the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.
The company has unveiled a new logo and is set to launch a new website, www.carlsonrezidor.com, on February 1.
“Carlson and Rezidor have a long, common history and have grown together over the past 17 years. Going to market as one is a next and natural step. We are leveraging the strengths of two great companies to create value for all our stakeholders,” said Hubert Joly, president and chief executive officer, Carlson.
The union of Carlson and Rezidor creates a hotel group with a portfolio of more than 1,300 hotels across 80 countries. Its brands include Radisson Blu, Radisson®, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM, Park Inn by Radisson, Hotel Missoni and Park Plaza®).
While the legal status and ownership structure of Carlson and Rezidor will remain the same, the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group said it seeks to synergize efforts under the global alignment and management of its brands, the development of its revenue generation engines, global purchasing opportunities, and people development.
The newly formed Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group said it aims to generate more than US$400 million in additional revenue and a RevPAR Index increase of more than nine points by 2015 through new revenue creation initiatives. These include a reinforced global sales team; unique revenue optimization tools; partnership projects with travel intermediaries, including Carlson Wagonlit Travel; and the rapid growth of Club CarlsonSM, the group’s successful loyalty program.
“The goal of this development is to generate more attractive financial returns for the owners and greater value for all shareholders, to be perceived by business partners around the world as one global hotel company, to offer more compelling and consistent value propositions to the guests, and to offer global career and development opportunities to the staff,” said Kurt Ritter, president and chief executive officer, Rezidor.
The companies said they have established a global steering committee chaired by Joly and Ritter to oversee the development of the new entity.
The relationship between the Carlson and Rezidor was established in 2002 when Rezidor signed a strategic agreement with Carlson Hotels Worldwide under which it acquired the franchise rights to the Park Inn, Country Inns & Suites and Regent brands in the EMEA region. In 2005, the franchise partnership was upgraded into a shareholder agreement with Carlson acquiring a 25% shareholding in Rezidor.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Carlson currently has 1,070 hotels in 80 countries and a majority stake in Carlson Wagon Lit Travel. The company was founded in 1938. In March 2010, Carlson unveiled an aggressive growth strategy called Ambition 2015 aimed at reaching at least 1,500 hotels in operation globally by 2015. It marked the Asia Pacific region has a key target for growth and revealed it had signed agreements to open 75 properties across its brand portfolio in the region by 2013.
In June 2010, together with Rezidor,Carlson sold the Regent luxury hotel company to Formosa International Hotels.
The Rezidor Hotel Group, headquartered in Belgium, has three key brands: Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, and Hotel Missoni. The company was formerly known as The Rezidor SAS Hospitality.
