The Rezidor Hotel Group, one of the most dynamic hotel companies worldwide and a member of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, has signed 11 hotels with almost 1,800 rooms in the second quarter of 2013. During the same period, Rezidor has also opened 3 hotels with 450 rooms and extended 3 hotels (350 rooms). At the end of June, Rezidor’s operating portfolio comprises 335 hotels with 74,000 rooms in 56 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.Rezidor’s openings in Q2 2013 were:
Park Inn by Radisson, Glasgow City Centre; UK – 91 rooms
Radisson Blu Hotel, Bremen; Germany – 235 rooms
Radisson Blu Hotel, Istanbul Pera; Turkey – 130 rooms
Room extensions in Q2 2013 were:
Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Bergen; Norway – 69 rooms
Radisson Blu Hotel Bamako; Mali – 117 rooms
Radisson Blu Resort Alushta; Ukraine – 150 rooms
TOTAL: 792 rooms
“Both our openings and signings continue to reflect our focus on profitable, asset-light growth in the Emerging Markets of Russia/CIS and Africa and in selected focus countries like Turkey”, commented Wolfgang M. Neumann, President & CEO of Rezidor. The most significant opening was the Radisson Blu Hotel, Istanbul Pera – a new First Class property featuring 130 rooms and being Rezidor’s 4th Radisson Blu hotel in Istanbul. A further Radisson Blu hotel in Istanbul is scheduled to open in late 2013 and will make Rezidor the largest international upper upscale hotel operator in town; offering 5 Radisson Blu hotels with a total of 1,000+ rooms. Rezidor also targets further key destinations across Turkey – an economically strong hub between Europe and Asia – for an ambitious development of the core brands Radisson Blu (upper upscale) and Park Inn by Radisson (mid-market).
Among Rezidor’s signings in Q2 2013 were 2 hotels in sub-Saharan Africa where the group already operates 15 hotels with 3,000 rooms and holds the largest pipeline of internationally branded rooms under development (22 hotels with 4,000 rooms): The Park Inn by Radisson, Kigali in Rwanda with 161 rooms is scheduled to open in early 2013; and the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel Abuja, Kaura in Nigeria with 150 rooms shall welcome the first guests in early 2015. “Sub-Saharan Africa’s politically stable capital cities and financial hubs offer high potential development options. We aim to establish Radisson Blu as the premier upper upscale brand in the region and to pursue a scaled growth of our mid-market offer Park Inn by Radisson”, said Elie Younes, Senior Vice President & Head of Group Development of Rezidor.
Among the signings in Rezidor’s European home markets was the Radisson Blu Hotel, Rouen in France: The 91 rooms-property in walking distance from Rouen’s railway station brings Rezidor’s French portfolio to 23 hotels in operation and under development, and further strengthens Radisson Blu as the largest upper upscale brand in the country. Rouen itself is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and driven by heavy industry – it is e.g. home to the head offices of Renault and Peugeot.
